Is Palia on Steam Deck? Answered

Palia is the latest cozy MMO to hit the Steam store, and all signs say it will be a big hit. In the same vein as Animal Crossing or Disney Dreamlight Valley, Palia lets players farm, craft, and decorate in the magical world of Palia, either by themselves or with friends. The game, developed by Singularity 6, is currently in open beta on PC, with an expected release date on the Nintendo Switch this holiday season. If you can’t wait that long for Palia to come to a handheld console, you might be trying to play Palia on the Steam Deck – but is it supported? The short answer is yes.

How to Play Palia on Steam Deck

Unfortunately, Palia isn’t native to the Steam Deck and loading the game onto one requires some work, but it is possible. During the game’s closed beta, some players reported problems with the game launcher detecting downloaded files, but the steps listed below have proven successful for many Palia players.

1.  Download the Palia launcher. The first step to download Palia on to your Steam Deck is to make sure the deck is running Windows, then download the game launcher.
2. Add Palia as a Non-Steam game. In the Steam application, add Palia as a Non-Steam game by clicking “Add a Game” in the bottom-left of the screen, then clicking “Add a Non-Steam Game”. Hit “browse,” then go to the Downloads folder and select PaliaLauncher.exe.
3. Adjust Palia’s Shortcut Preferences. Once Palia has been added to your Steam Library, navigate to the game’s shortcut preferences and under “Compatability”, force it to use Proton.
4. Run the Palia Launcher. We’re not quite done yet, but run the Palia Launcher and install the game.
5. Find the Palia Launcher File Path. After you’ve launched the Palia Launcher, you need to find its installation path. You can do this by following this file path: /home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/.
6. Copy the Palia Launcher’s Installation Path. Once you’ve followed the file path above, navigate the following path: /pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Local/Palia/Launcher/. Then right-click and copy the file path that led you here.
7. Set Steam’s Target Path. With the file path copied, re-launch Steam and set Palia’s target path to the one you’ve copied.

Congratulations! With Palia now installed on your Steam Deck, you’re free to explore this brand-new, serene world, either on your own or with friends.