Can you play Atomfall on gaming handhelds?
Yes, Atomfall is Steam Deck Verified, which means that Valve — the manufacturer of the popular Steam Deck handheld — has determined through testing that the game performs well on Deck. Because of that, the game should also run just fine on more capable gaming handhelds like the ASUS ROG Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go.
Atomfall is Steam Deck Verified, so you’re good to go
One of 2025’s biggest new indie projects is Atomfall, a new survival game from Rebellion — the studio responsible for creating the well-known Sniper Elite and Zombie Army franchises. Unlike the more focused nature of those experiences, though, Atomfall is far more expansive and non-linear as a result of its wide open world and open-ended narrative structure. Set five years after the infamous 1957 Windscale nuclear disaster, the game tasks players with finding a way to survive in the fallout-covered region of Lakeland in Great Britain while also investigating this fictional version of the catastrophe.
Atomfall has reviewed fairly well overall, with critics praising the design of its world, the variety of enemies you’ll encounter in it (mutants, cultists, robots, and soldiers, among some others), its exploration systems, and the impressive amount of freedom it affords players in regards to approaching objectives. As a result, many are excited to jump into the game, especially since it’s going to be on Xbox Game Pass. A portion of those folks prefer to use gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck to play their games, however, and they’re curious to learn how well Atomfall runs on those systems.
Thankfully, there’s good news: as the game’s Steam store page shows, Atomfall is officially Steam Deck Verified. This means that Valve — the creator of Steam and the Steam Deck handheld — has tested the game, ultimately determining that it will run well on the system. Given that Atomfall’s PC requirements are quite modest and that other handhelds like the ASUS ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and the ROG Ally X are more powerful than the Deck, you shouldn’t have any problems playing it on those devices either.
Best Atomfall settings for Steam Deck and gaming handhelds
It’s great news that Atomfall is fully playable on the Steam Deck and other gaming handhelds, but what are the best settings to use for it? Generally, it’s ideal to aim for a framerate of around 40 FPS while keeping settings as high as you can, as this gives you an excellent balance of visual quality and gameplay smoothness.
By keeping Atomfall at Medium settings and a 100% resolution scale (native), you can expect to get around 35-40 FPS — an excellent result, and what I’d recommend if you don’t mind occasional single-digit dips. If you’d prefer to stay in the 40-ish FPS range, though, you could lower the render scale slightly and/or bring shadows down to Low. Of course, you also have the option of lowering more settings to bring the framerate up substantially, but the loss of visual quality will be apparent.
On more capable handhelds like the ASUS ROG Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go, you’ll be able to push for higher visual fidelity without the major performance loss you’d incur on the Steam Deck. Because of that, you’ll be able to push certain settings up to High while still enjoying a smooth experience, though you still shouldn’t expect desktop-grade performance out of your handheld.
Atomfall launches on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, PS5, and PS4 on March 27. Notably, a nice discount has the $49.99 Standard Edition down to just $38.69 at CDKeys. Alternatively, you could get the $69.99 Deluxe Edition for $51.99 at CDKeys, which would give you Early Access and some cosmetic goodies. If you’d prefer to play through a subscription service, you’ll be happy to know that Atomfall is coming to Game Pass on day one.
