Can you play Overwatch 2 on Steam Deck?

The sequel to Activision Blizzard's hit hero shooter Overwatch is out now and many people are wondering if they can play Overwatch 2 on Steam Deck.

Officially, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, and Microsoft Windows are the supported platforms for the game.

But, given that Steam Deck is more than capable of running Overwatch 2, it makes sense to wonder whether Steam Deck can support Overwatch 2.

If you are one of those who are wondering whether you can play Overwatch 2 on Steam Deck, we have good news for you.

Can you play Overwatch 2 on Steam Deck?

The good news, as you might have guessed, is that you can play Overwatch 2 on Steam Deck. Overwatch 2 was released on Steam on the 10th of August and you can now play it.

And the fact that you don't need to install Windows onto your Steam Deck, unlike Modern Warfare 2, to play Overwatch 2 is a real bonus. In other words, you can play Overwatch 2 on SteamOS. That said, if you have Windows, the installation process is pretty straightforward.

So now that you know you can play Overwatch 2 on Steam Deck, let's find out how you can achieve this feat.

• Read more: How to fix Overwatch 2 login error on PC, Xbox, PS4 and PS5

How to play Overwatch 2 on Steam Deck

There are many ways to install Overwatch 2 on your Steam Deck. If you are on SteamOS, you will need separate software like Lutris or Bottles. You may find the steps complicated and hard to follow, but the reward at the end is worth it.

On the other hand, if your Steam Deck has Windows installed, you will be able to install the game in a breeze. Whatever your platform, follow the instructions below carefully and you will be playing Overwatch 2 in no time.

If you are on SteamOS

1. Start by installing Bottles on your Steam Deck. It is an application that enables you to run Windows software on Linux. You can find it in Discover.
2. Once you have installed Bottles, follow the instructions on-screen to finalize the set-up.
3. After that, click on the Bottles tab and select create a new Bottle.
4. Once the creation process is finished, we are gonna download Caffe runner. To do that, tap the 3-line icon in the top bar and select Preferences > Runners. Now, expand Caffe and download the latest version.

1. After the download is completed, open the new Bottle we created. Select Preferences from the side menu and change the Runner (under the System header) to Caffe that we downloaded.
2. Now select Installers from the side menu and install Blizzard's Battle.net.
3. Once it is downloaded, login to your Battle.net account and download Overwatch 2.

That's it! You have successfully installed Overwatch 2 on your Steam Deck. An Overwatch 2 icon will appear on your desktop and you can play the game from there.

If Overwatch 2 didn't appear in your Steam Library, you can add the Bottles we created as a non-steam game. In case your game is terribly stuttering, just enable DXVK_ASYNC in Bottles to fix the issue.

If you are on Windows

1. Open up your Steam Deck and go to its settings.
2. Switch the console’s mode to ‘Desktop Mode’.
3. Now, go to Blizzard’s website and download the ‘Battle.net launcher’.
4. When you’ve done that, open up the ‘Steam’ app on your Steam Deck.
5. Select the ‘Add a non-Steam game to my library option.’
6. Then go to ‘Downloads’ and select the ‘Battle.net.exe file’.
7. Click on it and choose ‘Add selected programs’.
8. Now, go to your Steam library, find the .exe file, and right-click it
9. Press on ‘Properties’ then ‘Compatability’ and now select ‘Force use of Specific Steam Play Compatibility Tool.’
10. Next, you need to choose ‘Proton Experimental‘ or ‘GE-Proton7-10.’ – however it appears.
11. Follow the instructions on-screen to finalize things.
12. It’s time to pick ‘Add a non-steam game to my library‘ again.

1. Once that’s done, search for the ‘compatdata‘ folder in ‘/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps‘.
2. Locate the ‘PFX’ folder in the recent folder and press to open the folder.
3. Now, find ‘pfx/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/Battle.net‘ and locate the Battle.net launcher.
4. Finally, add it to your library, press to open the launcher, and download Overwatch 2.

Although the game runs perfectly on the system, you may find performance issues. We recommend you tone down the graphics settings to low so that you can play the game more comfortably. Hope you enjoy the game!