This quick-start guide shows you how to build and run an Unreal Engine project on the Valve Steam Deck.
After completing this guide you will be able to:
-
Pair a Steam Deck to your development system.
-
Add a Steam Deck device to Unreal Engine.
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Run an Unreal Engine project on your Steam Deck.
Unreal Engine currently supports deploying to a Steam Deck from the Windows editor.
Requirements:
To build Unreal Engine projects for Steam deck you need:
-
A Steam Deck
Initial Steam Deck Setup
Before pairing your Steam Deck, ensure the system software is up to date by navigating to Steam > Settings > System > Software Updates on your Steam Deck.
Initial Pairing Setup
Before deploying your project, you need to pair your Steam Deck to your development machine.
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Install the SteamOS Devkit Client and open it on your development machine.
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Make sure your Steam Deck is connected to the same network as your development machine.
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Once connected, on your Steam Deck go to Steam > System > Network Settings and make a note of your Steam Deck's IP Address.
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On your Steam Deck, go to Settings > System and select Enable Development Mode under the System Settings section.
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On your Steam Deck, go to Settings > Developer and select Pair New Host under the Development Kit section to begin the pairing process.
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In the SteamOS Devkit Client, under the Devkit tab, enter the IP of your Steam Deck in the Connect to Steam Deck by IP box, then click Connect.
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On your Steam Deck, approve the pairing request from your PC to complete the pairing process.
Add a Steam Deck Device to Unreal Editor
After you have paired your device, you need to update an Engine.ini file to add your Steam Deck to Unreal Editor.
-
Open any
Engine.ini
file (for example,Engine/Config/BaseEngine.ini
) in a text editor. -
After opening the
Engine.ini
file, add a line to the file for each Steam Deck you want to connect, following the format below:
Engine.ini example
[SteamDeck]
+SteamDeckDevice=(IpAddr=192.168.0.10,Name=MySteamDeck,UserName=deck)
- IpAddr (Required) - The IP Address of your Steam Deck
- Name (Optional) - The name you want Unreal Engine to display for this Steam Deck
- Username (Required) - The username must always be 'deck' for Steam Decks connected to Unreal Engine.
After you have edited your Engine.ini
file, restart Unreal Editor. You can then find your Steam Deck under the Platforms context menu
To launch your Unreal Engine project on your Steam Deck, go to the Platforms context menu then find and select your Steam Deck. Unreal Engine then launches your project on your Steam Deck.