Only a short while after its launch, the Steam Deck is already fairly easy to emulate on.
The Steam Deck has been out officially for a little over a month now, and owners of the handheld are now finding it quite easy to set up emulators on it. As reported by PC Gamer, emulators such as EmuDeck make emulation much easier than when the handheld launched in February.
What EmuDeck does for the Steam Deck is mostly streamline a number of things. For example, it downloads a separate application called Steam Rom Manager. This will automatically download cover art for games, as well as listing them in your Steam library for ease of access. The app will also automatically install a range of emulators, as well as configure them with controller keybinds.
EmuDeck has proven to be so popular that its creator is able to update the game constantly. Though as PC Gamer notes, EmuDeck is prioritising simplicity over customisation, noting that you can’t actually choose which emulators you want to install onto your Steam Deck.
Alternatively, if you don’t want as streamlined an emulation experience for your Steam Deck as EmuDeck, and want something more catered to libraries of retro games, the software ties into an app called EmulationStation Desktop Edition. This lets you keep all your emulation related activities separate from your Steam library.
The Steam Deck has had plenty of testing done to it since its launch earlier this year, particularly with how games play on it. Elden Ring in particular causes the handheld’s battery to last only 93 minutes, far from the eight hours Valve claimed was a maximum play time.
