Genshin Impact can be considered the biggest Gacha game to be released in the last few years, as HoYoverse’s juggernaut managed to rise to the heights of already established flagships and elevate the standard expected of one such game immediately upon launch. But can you play Genshin Impact on the Steam Deck? And if so, how? Here’s how to install and play Genshin Impact on Steam Deck.
How to Install and Play Genshin Impact on Your Steam Deck
After heading to the game’s site and downloading the Installer for its PC version while in Desktop Mode, you will be able to install Genshin Impact on your Steam Deck. First, right-click on the Installer and then select Add to Steam. You can also add the file to your Steam Library by opening it, heading to Add a Game, and selecting Add a Non-Steam Game before selecting the file.
After adding the file to your library, select it, and then head to the Properties before heading to Compatibility and turning on the ‘Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool’ option. After doing that, just select Play and then Install the game as you were on a PC. In order to make the process as smooth as possible, make sure not to enter Gaming Mode during the installation and updating process.
Related: All Standard Banner Characters in Genshin Impact 4.0
Once Genshin Impact is fully installed on your Steam Deck, you will be able to play it by first heading to the place where the game’s launcher is. You will be able to find the location by heading to Home, Deck, and then selecting “Show Hidden Files” before heading to .Steam, and then to the steamapps folder.
After opening steamapps, just head to compatdata, and then to Genshin Impact game, where you will be able to find the game’s launcher. Once you spot the launcher, just add it to your Steam Library —you can do that in the same way you added the installer a few steps back.
After successfully adding the launcher to your library, you will be able to play the game by selecting it from your list, heading to Properties, renaming the entry to Genshin Impact, and selecting it in Gaming Mode.
This guide was made while playing Genshin Impact’s version 4.0.
- This article was updated on August 25th, 2023
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