Skyrim has been the most-played 'Unsupported' game on Steam Deck for 5 months

4 weeks ago 27

You probably could have guessed that The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is one of the most-played games on Steam Deck, but according to Valve, it shouldn't be. Skyrim has remained on the most-played Steam Deck games list put out by the company in December, January, February, March, and now April despite having an "Unsupported" designation on the platform.

The now-default Skyrim Special Edition from 2016 appears to have first received the "Unsupported" designation last December. The white "No" symbol is usually the death knell for taking a game on the go: "Some or all of this game currently doesn't function on Steam Deck," is how Valve puts it.

Skyrim Special Edition as "Unsupported" on Steam Deck.

Maybe jumping through some serious hoops or messing with .ini files will get an Unsupported game running, as is the case with the OG Max Payne, but such games often don't support gamepad anyway, and I usually find it's not worth the effort.

Article continues below

But thousands of people have kept playing Skyrim on Steam Deck, and I don't blame them, because it runs flawlessly. No explanation has been offered for the shift from "Verified" to "Unsupported," while Steam Deck HQ, as well as users on Reddit and Steam, all report that it's still all systems go⁠.

I can also personally vouch that it starts up fine. I don't understand why this was done, but it lends Skyrim the dubious distinction of being the most-played supposedly unplayable game on the platform.

Usually I've had to deal with a real vs. reported playability disconnect from the other direction: Despite having a Verified badge for years, it was only with a recent update that one of my favorite indie RPGs, Dread Delusion, really earned the status.

Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch. You can follow Ted on Bluesky.

Read Entire Article