Hytale is officially set to receive Steam Deck support — but fans hoping to play soon will have to wait longer than expected

by

I’ve been watching Hytale since it launched just over a week ago, and it’s amazing what people are already creating with its modding tools. It’s not just simple tweaks either – players have managed everything from enabling cross-play with Minecraft to actually getting Windows 95 running *inside* the game! It’s pretty incredible.

Even though the game is gaining traction, many players have asked for better compatibility with the Steam Deck. While a Linux version of Hytale exists, playing on Valve’s handheld device isn’t ideal, especially regarding the controls.

The game mostly runs smoothly on the Steam Deck, but players currently have to use the touchpads a lot to move and interact with things. This can make it feel awkward to play on a handheld system, as it’s not as natural as using traditional controls.

There’s some good news for Hytale fans! Kevin Carstens, who co-founded Hypixel Studios and is known as Slikey, has spoken about the potential for Hytale to work on the Steam Deck. Here’s what he said and what it could mean for playing the game on handheld PCs.

Steam Deck support is coming, but there is no timeline

The video demonstrates that Hytale runs well on the Steam Deck. However, the game doesn’t currently support controllers, which prevents it from being a fully satisfying handheld experience.

SteamDeckHQ recently asked Kevin Carstens, co-founder of Hypixel Studios (known online as Slikey), about potential Steam Deck support for their game. Carstens clarified that making the game work well on the Steam Deck requires more than just adjusting the controls; it’s a more complex undertaking.

To get Hytale working well on handheld devices, we need to focus on improving battery life and adapting the user experience for smaller screens. While I don’t have a specific timeframe, we plan to release Hytale on the Steam Deck and other PC handhelds before moving on to consoles or mobile platforms.

Hypixel Studios co-founder Kevin Carstens

I really appreciate that Carstens is being realistic about things – Hypixel Studios has gotten a lot of good feedback for being so open with us, and that’s awesome. He also mentioned that the game doesn’t *need* Steam Deck support to launch version 1.0, which is good to know! It means they’re focusing on getting the core game perfect first.

I’m not sure about the user experience on smaller screens yet. For our initial release, version 1.0, we’re focusing on delivering what we showed in the trailer. Since the trailer didn’t include other platforms like mobile, that isn’t holding up the 1.0 launch.

Hypixel Studios co-founder Kevin Carstens

Good news for Steam Deck players: Hytale is already working well on the device, even without official support! According to SteamDeckHQ, the developers have confirmed that full controller support is coming before the game officially launches, and they’re prioritizing making the game accessible to as many players as possible – it won’t just be simple joystick controls.

Now that the game officially supports the Steam Deck, we hope to see official support added for other handheld devices like the Xbox Ally and other Windows-based handhelds soon – ideally around the same time, or shortly after.

Read More

2026-01-21 19:41