Joel and Ellie hit the Deck.
The problem with suffocating human misery is that it just isn’t suffocating enough. Sometimes I find myself at a nice lunch, or the garden centre, or meandering through an amber cornfield in dappled evening sunlight. Well, no more! When the desolate, post-apocalyptic The Last of Us finally hits PC on March 3 next year, I’ll be able to suffer whenever and wherever I want, because apparently it’s going to be playable on Steam Deck.
The news comes straight from TLoU creator (and Naughty Dog co-president) Neil Druckmann on Twitter. Responding to a fan asking about the game’s Deck compatibility, Druckmann responded that “[TLoU protagonists] Ellie and Joel will grace the Steam Deck… don’t worry!”
So rest easy, you’ll be able to sate your weakness for bleakness on the go when the game comes out on PC next year. Of course, Druckmann doesn’t say how well it’ll run, so you might be taking a hit to your framerate or fidelity to get it running in the palms of your hands, but it’s an impressive brag for the Deck regardless. On console, The Last of Us Part 1 is one of relatively few games that demand to be run only on a PS5 (though that might be partially down to the fact that there’s another gussied-up version of TLoU for PS4 already). The fact that the Deck can apparently keep up with this current-gen showpiece is a testament to its abilities.
Although Sony—and several others—has gone all-in on a $70/£70 default pricepoint for new games, TLoU is a nostalgic $60/£50 on Steam. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on it. The original was not, as some suggested, the greatest game ever made, but it was a tense and evocative story with great performances and a solid narrative. It’ll be good to see it freed from its console shackles and allowed to roam free on PC and, yes, Steam Deck.
It’s not the only PS-exclusive washing up on our shores, either. Sony has also announced that roguelike shooter Returnal will be coming to PC in the near(ish) future. That one doesn’t have a solid release date yet, though: It’s currently listed as a nebulous “Coming soon” on Steam, but it’s likely that it too will run on the Deck whenever it releases, if SteamDB is any indication. It’s a pretty good time to be a PC gamer, if you ask me.
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