Hydroneer has been around for a couple of years, however, the game has managed to stay relevant even four years after its release due to the consistent DLC updates that the developers have been releasing. The new DLC “Journey to Volcalidus” has been the primary attraction of many players who are interested in mining sandbox games. In the DLC, you get to experience a brand new area that’s over 6 times larger than the existing island and has much more content. Anyway, as the popularity of handheld devices is on the rise, games like Hydroneer are a perfect addition to the list. But it has come to light that Hydroneer is not working on one of the handhelds, Steam Deck. If you are encountering a similar problem, consider reading this guide until the end for workarounds to fix the issue.
Being a mining sandbox game, Hydroneer’s experience can be perfectly paired with the portability of the Steam Deck. From forging new weapons to going fishing, every aspect of the game is a fine-tuned mechanic that has contributed to its popularity over the years. But as it now stands, the game’s incompatibility with the Steam Deck has been a major setback. Anyway, in this guide, we have shared a bunch of effective workarounds for you to try. So, consider trying them first.
Also read: Content Warning change FOV feature: Is it available?
Hydroneer not working on Steam Deck: How to fix it
If you didn’t already know, Hydroneer is not a Steam Deck Verified game. This means that Valve hasn’t tested it officially on the Steam Deck, which is why crashing and not working issues shouldn’t be very surprising. But since such issues occur in most games on the Deck, there are workarounds to fix it. Here they are:
1) Restart the Deck
A pretty basic first step. If the game is not working on the Steam Deck, consider restarting the Deck and then launching the game. Once you have tried this, switch to the next workaround.
2) Verify File Integrity
This issue can also occur if the game has corrupted or missing files. So, to rule out this possibility, consider verifying the integrity of game files. Here’s how you can do so:
- Open Steam, and head to the game’s tile in the Library tab.
- Now, select the Options button, and then Properties.
- After this, go to the Installed Files tab, and then select the Verify Integrity of Game Files option.
- Once the scan is complete, launch the game.
3) Launch Options
You can set a custom launch option if the game doesn’t launch on your Steam Deck. To do so, go to the game’s tile in your Steam Library, and then select the Properties option. Now, in the General tab, find the Launch Options textbox and add the following command: “WINE_FULLSCREEN_FSR=1 gamemoderun %command%”. Now, launch the game.
4) Change Proton Version
If the game fails to launch on the Steam Deck, it can be due to an incompatible Proton version selected. So, to fix this, you can change the proton version that the game uses to run on the Steam Deck. Here’s how:
- As stated before, go to the game’s tile in your Steam library.
- After this, select Properties, and go to the Compatibility tab.
- Here, checkmark the Force Proton Version option, and then select Proton Experimental.
- Although Proton Experimental has the highest chance of making the game run on your Steam Deck, you can switch to Proton 7.0-5 if it doesn’t work.
5) Reinstall
At last, if none of the workarounds are of help, consider reinstalling the game, and then check if the issue persists. Also, remember to install it on the Deck’s internal storage, rather than a microSD card.
Well, these are all the workarounds worth trying to fix the Hydroneer not working issue on Steam Deck. If you find this guide informative, consider visiting Android Gram for more such content.
