The Steam Deck has exploded onto the scene in PC gaming. And now, tons of gamers want to take their favorite PC games on the go. This means that those without smart phones can also game on the go, without having to be beholden to the likes of Nintendo. And the Steam Deck is filling that demand pretty nicely, offering support for hundreds of games for hours-on-end, at full resolution and with all the cool features PC gamers love.
Do you know what else just came out? Diablo Immortal and folks are going nuts for it. The on-the-go demon-slaying is tons of fun. This new RPG is currently in beta, and has found a nice niche for itself among fans. It would be kind of great to get the full PC experience of a new Diablo game, completely on the go. And even though the game is a mobile title, it can also be played on PC. This was a change Blizzard made from original plans after the poorly received announcement warranted fan backlash.
There are a few other things to learn about this hit new RPG, so listen up. The Paragon leveling system is a bit different this time around, but mostly familiar. There’s also a more restrictive leveling system at play here, so keep that in mind. And if you find yourself not being challenged, trying a new difficulty in Diablo immortal might help. There’s also a battle pass to take on, if you want more consistent tasks to complete over your time with the game.
How to Play Diablo Immortal on Steam Deck
It appears that there are two different methods to get Diablo Immortal running on Steam Deck. You can either run the game directly via the Battle.Net client, or via Android emulation. The two experiences are basically exactly the same, given how easy this game is to run, it’s really just a matter of preference.
Playing Diablo Immortal on Steam Deck via Battle.net
The simplest way to get the best possible experience when running Diablo‘s newest title is to just use the intended launcher for the PC version. Just like any non-Steam game, you need to be in Desktop mode. Switch to it so you can pull down the Battle.net installer. Once you’ve pulled down the installer, run it in desktop mode. Make sure to use the Properties menu to open the Compatability tab. Then, make sure the option to “Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool” is checked.
Once the install is finished, simply install the app and game via the non-Steam app install, and you’re ready to play.
Installing and Running Bluestacks
Bluestacks is an Android emulator for Windows that’s been around a long time. Players can get their hands on a mountain of apps by mimicking a modern smartphone. This emulation is helpful for game developers, but can be a huge boon to gamers too. To run Diablo Immortal on Steam Deck with this app, you need to just install it. Although there is one trick to remember, and we’ll mention that below.
Swap to desktop mode via the GO TO DESKTOP function, then open the web browser and navigate to the Bluestacks download page. Once you’ve pulled down the installer, run it in desktop mode. Make sure to use the Properties menu to open the Compatability tab. Then, make sure the option to “Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool” is checked. You need to do this to install Bluestacks with the proper permissions in the file system.
As soon as the launcher is finished installing, return to Steam and add the installer to your library as a non-steam game.
