The Steam Deck now offers a new way to play games that were once too heavy for it or wouldn’t run at all. Nvidia has added an easy download link to its website, so you can install and enjoy these games right from gaming mode on your handheld device.

As was announced a few months back at CES 2025, Nvidia has officially added Steam Deck support to its GeForce Now cloud gaming service. This means Valve’s handheld owners can now stream countless games straight from their libraries, including those that previously overwhelmed the device’s hardware or were simply incompatible with SteamOS (like those relying on kernel-level anti-cheat on Windows).

If you have a Steam Deck and want to install GeForce Now, switch to desktop mode (hit B in game mode on the Steam interface) and navigate to gfn.link/download in your browser. Once there, pick the platform you need and download the ZIP file. Extract it and run the GeForceNowSetup code.

After that, you can either restart your device or head back into Game Mode, where the GeForce Now launcher will be listed under “non-Steam games” in your library. From there, you’re just a step away from either creating a new account or logging in with your existing one.

Playing Through GeForce Now

The official website also provides some helpful tutorials, along with recommended control settings. Remember, GeForce Now is a service that lets you play many of your PC games from the cloud, and new titles are added every month. While it was possible to play GFN on Steam Deck before, the new official support makes things even easier. Since Nvidia doesn’t sell you new game licenses, you can play many titles for free, although some games do require a premium membership for this method. That membership unlocks perks like more powerful hardware to run your games, skipping wait times, and more.

The Steam Deck originally launched in 2022, and while it was a delight to play games like Elden Ring (with that precious Verified badge), it’s become clear that newer games are starting to push the device to its limits. Monster Hunter Wilds, for example, is currently unplayable on the handheld.

Valve hasn’t announced a Steam Deck 2 yet, but interviews hint that the company behind Half-Life is still working on “Steam Deck hardware,” so news about it may not be too far off.

Source: 3djuegos