This Steam Deck Plugin Makes Installing Mods From Nexus Mods Easy And Accessible

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One of my favorite things I got into PC gaming all those years ago is mods. Being able to inject unique content into a game to give it a longer lifespan is just awesome. Steam is pretty great with it, giving us a mod browser in the storefront (Steam Workshop), but the undisputed champion of mod collections, browsing, and installing comes from Nexus Mods. While they are working on making sure their mod application, Vortex, is working on the Steam Deck, the only other way to utilize it is to manually download and install each mod individually. However, a new plugin was created that not only simplifies the process but also allows us to browse, install, and set up mods for supported games, and it’s pretty awesome.

Before I go further into talking about the mod, it’s worth noting that the mod is vibe-coded to some degree. The mod uses CLAUDE, which can be seen in the contributors section and in the files. This mod is a great idea and seems to work well, but it’s worth being fully transparent about it out of the gate. Please be aware of the AI involvement if you are going to try this for yourself.

As of right now, the only way to install it is manually. You’ll have to go to the GitHub page, download the latest release, and either add it to your plugin folder or use the developer tools in Game Mode to install from a zip.

Decky-nexus is a new plugin created by RedRanger14 (and CLAUDE) that allows us to browse and install mods from Nexus Mods, and I really like the way that it operates. It isn’t a blanket support for Nexus Mods; it only supports specific games, but each of those games gets specific support for them. Each of the games has its own steps to make sure they are ready for mods. For example, Stardew Valley’s step 1 is for installing SMAPI, but for Fallout: New Vegas, step 1 has us install xNVSE. All the supported games have their own steps to ensure that mods will work, and that extra level of support makes getting it set up much easier.

But that’s not all! Some of these games have specific options to accommodate matting them, like save transfers for Slay the Spire 2. It makes it feel like it was handcrafted to work with this plugin and make sure it’s able to run and work.

Right now, there are only nine games that are supported, with four on the way:

Supported Games:

1. Cyberpunk 2077
2. Elden Ring
3. Fallout 4
4. Fallout: New Vegas
5. Resident Evil 4
6. Skyrim Special Edition
7. Slay the Spire 2
8. Stardew Valley
9. The Witcher 3

Upcoming Support:

• Fallout 3
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
• Palworld

I also want to praise the mod browser. It’s easy to look and navigate to find new mods to install, and it’s all accessible with the controller. It’s great for what it is, and I’m glad that we can endorse and support the mod authors easily. It would be nice to be able to see other screenshots or search for mods by category, but it’s a good start. I like that we can see our current downloads and mods that we have installed, as well as which ones need to be updated.

Currently, he is working on manual loader order editing, Vortex profile support, and mods that need a Windows tool to install, but there’s no timeline for when these will be added. Still, it’s nice to see that more features are on the way, and it seems to be one of the best ways to easily install from Nexus Mods on the Steam Deck.

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