Baldur’s Gate 3 is here but many Steam Deck users are unable to launch it. This is not anything which is exactly new, as many games upon launch aren’t compatible with it. But that doesn’t mean you cannot play on it. With a simple workaround, the game will be up and running on your handheld in no time. So here is how you can fix the issue of BG3 won’t launch on Steam Deck.
How to Fix Baldur’s Gate 3 Not Launching on Steam Deck
In order to get BG3 to launch you will have to check the Force Compatibility option and use Proton Experimental with it. This is the standard method to get most incompatible games working for Steam Deck. The steps are as follows:
- Go to Baldur’s Gate 3.
- Next, click on the Settings button with the cogwheel icon.
- Here, go to Properties.
- Next, head to the Compatibility tab and check the Force Compatibility option.
- By default it should have Proton Experimental selected. If not then choose it from the various Proton versions from the drop-down.
- Now, go back and start playing BG3.
The game should launch now.
Once the game starts make sure you select DirectX 11 from the launcher. While Vulkan does offer better performance for most cases. When playing the game on Steam Deck, it is better to run it on DX11 for more stable gameplay. You should check out our Vulkan or DX11 to see which works better.
The above solution should get the game to work properly, but here are some other general fixes that you can also try:
- Restart Steam Deck: After applying the above changes if the game still doesn’t work restart your Steam Deck and then launch BG3.
- Check File Integrity: The game could be facing launch issues because of corrupt files. Scanning and repairing them should help you start the game without any issues.
You should no longer face any launch issues on your Steam Deck with Baldur’s Gate 3. If the game started working for you, and you are interested to find out more about it then you should definitely check out our BG3 section.