Valve’s flagship handheld gaming PC, the Steam Deck has grown immensely in popularity since its initial release back in February, 2022. The handheld runs on a modified version of Arch Linux, known as SteamOS – which makes running non-Steam games on it a tad bit complicated.
While Minecraft Bedrock ordinarily does not work on the Steam Deck, you can get it up and running rather splendidly on the console using third party launchers. You can find more on the steps involved below.
How to install Minecraft Bedrock on the Steam Deck
- Fire up your Steam Deck and enter Desktop Mode.
- You will likely require a USB mouse and keyboard for the steps below, so make sure to connect the Deck to a dock before proceeding further.
- Click on the ‘Discover’ tab from your taskbar and/or search for it in the Applications menu.
- Type in ‘Prism Launcher’.
- Once within the app’s page, hit the appropriate Install button to install the launcher onto your device.
- Boot up Prism Launcher.
- Log in using your Microsoft account.
- Select the Bedrock version and follow the appropriate steps to install the game’s files.
Prism Launcher also supports the Java Edition, and comes with a host of features – feel free to experiment!
How to add Prism Launcher to Steam Deck’s Gaming Mode
While the steps above are sufficient for installing Minecraft Bedrock/Java on the Deck, you will still have to add the launcher as a non-Steam game in order to access it from the SteamOS UI:
- Head into the Deck’s Desktop Mode.
- Fire up the Steam desktop client.
- From the top row of the UI, head to Games > Add a non Steam game to library > Browse.
- Prism Launcher should be listed in your applications here. Select it and hit ‘Add selected programs’.
The launcher should now be added to your Game Mode UI, without any major issues. Use the SteamGridDB plugin for DeckyLoader to add in custom artwork.
Play around with the game’s settings to ensure a smooth 60+ frames per second.
