Can Steam Deck play Minecraft?

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Valve’s Steam Deck is marketed as a handheld gaming PC that lets you bring your entire Steam library with you on the go. But can the Steam Deck play Minecraft?

While thousands of Steam games are playable on the Steam Deck out of the box, technically, not every Steam game will work.

That’s because the Steam Deck ships with Valve’s version of a Linux-based operating system. So games made specifically with Windows in mind might not work perfectly.

So, what does this mean for games like Minecraft that aren’t available on Steam? Are there any options that let you play Minecraft on your Steam Deck?

Can you play Minecraft on your Steam Deck?

Short answer: Yes, but it will take a little extra work.

Since neither Minecraft Bedrock nor Minecraft Java is available on Steam, getting the game on your Steam Deck can be a bit complicated. But it is possible.

Even though Minecraft isn’t available on Steam, you can play it on a Linux operating system which is what comes on the Steam Deck. You’ll have to take a few steps to get the game downloaded.

READ MORE: Can you play Elden Ring on Steam Deck?

How to play Minecraft on Steam Deck

You’ll need to head to the Discover Software Center on your Steam Deck to download a Minecraft launcher.

A popular launcher available on Steam Deck is PolyMC or the Prism Launcher, which also lets you download and manage mods.

YouTube channel Gaming On Linux has a good video guide for installing Minecraft on your Steam Deck. Check it out below:

Valve designed the Steam Deck with Steam games in mind. So it’s not surprising that you’ll have to go through a few extra steps to access non-Steam games.

Explore Minecraft installation options for Steam Deck users

Still, it’s nice to see that it is possible to download and play non-Steam games on the Steam Deck. Since the game already works with Linux, it also works perfectly fine on the Steam Deck.

It is also possible to install Minecraft on Steam Deck through Windows, but again the process isn’t straightforward. For that, you first will need to get Windows on your Steam Deck.

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Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.