Naughty Dog prioritising fixes and patches over The Last of Us Part 1’s Steam Deck verification

Steam Deck users will have to wait a while before The Last of Us Part 1’s Steam Deck verification

Naughty Dog and Iron Galaxy are busy fixing The Last of Us Part 1’s PC version, with a new PC hotfix arriving later today and a larger update being planned for Friday. To say the least, The Last of Us Part 1’s PC version is a mess, with the game running poorly on many systems and with major bugs in others. 

Most PC gamers have problems with The Last of Us Part 1’s PC version, and Steam Deck users are especially disappointed. Despite promises that The Last of Us Part 1 would support Steam Deck, The Last of Us Part 1 has launched without Steam Deck verification and does not run well on Valve’s gaming handheld. This makes sense given The Last of Us Part 1’s broader PC problems, but it nonetheless disappointing for gamers who wanted to enjoy The Last of Us on the go. 

In a recent Tweet, Naughty Dog has stated that they are “prioritizing fixes and patches” before they plan to submit The Last of Us for Steam Deck verification, and that the company will keep Steam Deck users updated on the status of The last of Us Part 1 on the handheld.

Naughty Dog’s approach to Steam Deck makes sense. The Last of Us Part 1’s broader PC issues need to be addressed before any focus is moved to Valve’s Steam Deck. For starter, bug fixes will impact all PC gamers, even those on Steam Deck, and performance optimisations will also impact Valve’s gaming handheld. Fixing The Last of Us Part 1’s PC version improves the game on Steam Deck. That said, Steam Deck users are right to be disappointed about the state of The Last of Us on their handheld’s, as they were promised more.

Steam Deck users were promised that “Ellie and Joel will grace the Steam Deck”

Below we have embedded a Tweet from Neil Druckmann, who promised that “Ellie and Joel will grace the Steam Deck”. This statement implied that The Last of Us Part 1 would be Steam Deck verified, or at least fully playable. We have even seen gamers post online that Druckmann’s statement was what convinced many gamers to invest in Valve’s Steam Deck handheld. It is disappointing that these gamers were not given the gaming experience that they made to expect.

The poor state of The last of Us Part 1’s PC version was always going to affect the game’s playability on Valve’s more limited Steam Deck gaming hardware. The game’s poor performance on Steam Deck is just one of the many disappointments of The Last of Us Part 1’s PC version. Given Druckmann’s statement last December, it wouldn’t be a stretch to call the game’s poor state on Steam Deck a broken promise. 

Let’s face it, Naughty Dog are right to focus on the wider PC audience first and on Steam Deck players second. Any optimisations or fixes for The Last of Us Part 1 will directly improve the game’s Steam Deck version, and it must be remembered that Valve’s Steam Deck has a small userbase when compared to the broader PC audience.

The good news here is that if Naughty Dog plans to get The Last of Us Part 1 verified on Steam Deck, they must be planning to deliver some major optimisations to their game. Valve’s Steam Deck is a weak hardware platform when compared to fully fledged desktop PCs, so strong performance on Steam Deck should translate to impressive performance levels on most desktop PCs.  

You can join the discussion on The Last of Us Part 1’s Steam Deck verification plans on the OC3D Forums.