Phantom Blade Zero is a Steam hit, but the Steam Deck struggles

RetroVault Team 03 Nov 2026 110 views 0 comments

Released on 29 October, S-Game's action game passed 723,000 concurrent players on Steam. On Steam Deck, early tests show fewer than 30 frames per second.

Phantom Blade Zero launched worldwide on 29 October 2026 on PC (Steam and Epic Games Store) and PS5. The game hit a peak of 723,876 concurrent players on Steam on launch day, placing it near the top of the most-played chart, and shows 88 on Metacritic according to its Steam page.

It is an Unreal Engine 5 action game with demanding combat, which makes it a natural topic for PC handheld owners.

And on Steam Deck?

Before launch, Steam Deck HQ (25 October) found frequent drops below 30 frames per second, sometimes below 20, on Steam Deck. The same test, mostly run on a Steam Machine, recommends 1440p, medium quality, FSR Balanced and a 30 fps lock. These measurements predate release and could change with patches: check the Steam Deck compatibility badge on the game's Steam page before buying.

Image: Liam Dawe/GamingOnLinux, VulcanSphere, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (modified).

Phantom Blade Zero is a Steam hit, but the Steam Deck struggles

Comments (0)

Leave a comment