UPDATE: I reached out to the company handling PR for The Callisto Protocol and was told the Steam Deck is something the developers will have more information on “soon.” Hopefully that means Deck owners won’t have long to wait.
Original article follows…
The Callisto Protocol is out now, and in a year with few AAA singleplayer releases has fan interest piqued.
But how does the survival horror game handle on Steam Deck? Right now, it’s a pass, but there’s potential for things to change in the coming weeks.
Callisto Protocol Early Steam Deck Impressions
The lovely folks over at SteamDeckHQ have been hands-on with Callisto Protocol on Steam Deck and early impressions aren’t great.
There is some good news, though. With settings dropped all the way down and FSR 2.0 set to performance, SteamDeckHQ was able to manage 30 frames per second, which to be honest, has become the standard framerate when it comes to big releases. Cyberpunk 2077 is best played at 30 frames, too.
The biggest problem The Callisto Protocol faces as of right now is the constant stuttering.
“I actually do believe The Callisto Protocol will be playable decently on the Steam Deck in the future,” says SteamDeckHQ’s Noah Kupetsky.
“With settings dialed down, and FSR 2.0 on Performance, I was able to keep 30 FPS, apart from the stutters, and battery drain around 12W – 17W.”
Stuttering is the Callisto Protocol’s biggest hurdle on the Steam Deck, though hope isn’t lost. Kupetsky reasons the stuttering problem could be patched to help optimize the game, or that the introduction of a shader cache could fix the problem, if not alleviate it somewhat.
In short, hold off on purchasing The Callisto Protocol on Steam Deck for now, but – hopefully – the issues should be resolved sooner than later.
What The Developers Say
As of right now, the developers are busy working on all the different versions across PC and consoles. A PC update went live recently and new patches for the console counterparts are live that fix framerate and crash problems.
There are patches live for all consoles that should fix frame rate and crash issues that some of you have reported. We are listening, working hard on updates, and will have details to share on more upcoming improvements early this week. Thanks for your patience.
— The Callisto Protocol (@CallistoTheGame) December 4, 2022
As noted in the tweet above, Striking Distance Studios says the company is focused on patches right now. How that relates to the Steam Deck, isn’t clear. Suffice to say, I’ve reached out to The Callisto Protocol’s publishers and will update once I hear back.
