Can I play Grounded 2 on Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and other handheld gaming PCs?

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Since Grounded 2 is now available in early access, it’s natural to wonder if you can play it on your preferred portable gaming device. Whether you’re a fan of the Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, or any other option, I’ve gathered the necessary information for you before you decide to buy.

Recently, I’ve been immersing myself in Grounded 2 quite extensively, with a significant chunk of that time spent on my ASUS ROG Ally X. To determine if Grounded 2 is well-suited for handheld gaming, I’ve experimented with various settings and gameplay scenarios. Here are my findings:

I’ve been spending a lot of time with Grounded 2 on my ASUS ROG Ally X lately. To see if it’s a good choice for portable gaming, I’ve tried out different configurations and situations. Here are the results of my investigation:

Another option:
Lately, I’ve been deeply engrossed in Grounded 2, often on my ASUS ROG Ally X. To evaluate if this game works well for handheld play, I’ve experimented with various settings and circumstances. Here are the conclusions of my examination:

Can I play Grounded 2 on my gaming handheld?

Surely,

Absolutely! Grounded 2 does accept controller input on platforms like Steam and the Microsoft Store. It can even run on top-tier handheld gaming devices. However, it’s important to note that the performance isn’t currently stellar; even the most potent handhelds struggle to maintain more than 40 frames per second (FPS) at optimal settings. At present, Grounded 2 hasn’t been verified for Steam Deck.

How does Grounded 2 play on gaming handhelds?

On my ROG Ally X, I initiated a fresh game of Grounded 2. This allowed me to observe how the game’s performance progressed during the tutorial phase up until the open world was accessible, and I indeed had to tinker with settings to ensure a seamless and consistent gaming experience.

Can you play the game smoothly? Indeed, I didn’t encounter any crashes or significant frame rate issues, and my ASUS ROG Ally X seemed capable of handling the game without strain even while running on battery power.

Regardless of running in the strongest 25W Turbo setting and using minimal graphics options like reduced resolution, I didn’t anticipate frames per second exceeding 40. Yet, this performance was more than sufficient for an enjoyable gaming experience. And that was essentially the top-notch performance level you could get from Grounded 2.

On the ROG Ally X, Grounded 2 is certainly playable, yet it’s important to note that even this powerful handheld device struggles to sustain high frame rates consistently.

Playing areas with lots of detail, multiple creatures simultaneously, or buggy games may lower your game’s frame rate significantly. Dropping below 30 frames per second (FPS) is quite easy in such cases. Given that the device you’re using is one of the most powerful gaming handhelds available, performance on less powerful devices like the Steam Deck will likely be even worse.

Absolutely, Grounded 2 is currently in early access and it’s evident that there’s a significant amount of optimization work required (it does have quite a few bugs). However, don’t despair just yet. I believe that as we approach the launch, Obsidian will ensure that Grounded 2 runs more smoothly on handheld devices. In fact, I think it’s more than plausible that it will pass Steam Deck Verification as well.

For now, though, I still much prefer playing Grounded 2 on my Xbox Series X.

What Grounded 2 settings should I use with my handheld?

One current drawback with Grounded 2 is that it doesn’t offer many graphical customization options when played on Windows PC via Steam or Microsoft Store, which limits your ability to adjust the game settings to suit your portable device’s specifications.

This also incorporates integrated functionality for resolution adjustment or frame enhancement technologies such as AMD FidelityFX and NVIDIA DLSS. However, certain portable devices (such as the ROG Ally X) have the ability to utilize these features even without built-in support.

This setup for Grounded 2 is currently quite clear-cut, but it might evolve or become more complex down the line. Here are the configurations I applied on my ASUS ROG Ally X.

  • Resolution. Most games I play on the ROG Ally X run just fine at FHD (1080p), but I did have to lower Grounded 2’s resolution to HD (720p) to consistently stay above 30 FPS.
  • Render Scale. This refers to what percentage of the native resolution the game is actually rendering at. I left it at 100%, because the image quality gets blurry very quickly at lower percentages, but this is a way to gain a few extra frames if you need them.
  • Quality. Grounded 2 only has Low, Medium, and High quality levels with no granular graphical settings, and Low is the only setting that ran well on my ROG Ally X (but the game still looks good).
  • V-Sync. If your handheld has a higher refresh rate display with VRR support, enabling v-sync can help make the game feel smoother and prevent screen tearing.
  • Other tidbits. Other settings are down to personal preference and won’t affect performance much, but I do disable motion blur (our eyes already do that, why would I want more motion blur on top of my motion blur). Just a note on Field-of-View (FoV) — it can be tempting to raise it, but that’s a great way to tank your performance on weaker hardware, so be cautious.

I’d be thrilled to give Grounded 2 a spin on my ROG Ally X, but I might choose to steer clear of the most taxing fights and tasks to dodge any sudden frame rate hiccups. Luckily, there’s an alternative way to enjoy Grounded 2 – streaming it via Xbox Cloud Gaming. This method ensures the game runs smoothly at 1080p resolution and maintains around 60 frames per second.

Currently, playing Grounded 2 on handheld devices is best done with a reliable internet connection. Keep in mind that if your device isn’t very powerful, Grounded 2 might need some improvements to provide an optimal mobile gaming experience.

The latest version of Grounded has been released on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC, Steam, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Xbox Game Pass for early access use.

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2025-07-29 16:11