Witchfire Developer Recommends Everyone Attempt To Support the Steam Deck

If you haven't yet, follow us on X (Twitter), Mastodon, or Bluesky to know when we post new articles, and join our Reddit or Subscribe to us on YouTube to check out our content and interact with our awesome community. Thank you for supporting us!

Recently, there have been a bunch of games that got the Steam Deck Verified badge or had some updates to enhance playability on the Deck. One of those is Witchfire, a fantastic first-person roguelike with soulslike elements that got a new patch with Steam Deck optimizations and a dedicated graphics preset. And it seems this kind of update is one that the team recommends other developers try to do as well.

Speaking to frvr.com, Witchfire's creative director Adrian Chmielarz mentioned they wanted to support the Steam Deck because they just wanted to support another machine. He believes it ultimately makes the entire game better as a result of optimizing a lower-powered device with a smaller screen, and that they have seen more opportunities to improve the experience, like with scalable UI, for many different devices because of it.

Later in the article, he remarks that:

I think every developer, if they can [should support Steam Deck]. If you’re making some, I don’t know, some super duper complex game using some engine that’s not the fastest in the world, then maybe you will have [problems], maybe don’t support Steam Deck because, you know, 15 frames per second is not fun. But other than this, everybody should attempt to support that machine because it would make their game better.

Adrian Chmielarz - Creative Director of Witchfire

I love this mindset. While I understand why some developers aren't able to take the extra time to optimize for very low-powered devices, or some games just aren't able to handle it, it does have lots of benefits to focus on devices like this. If you can support low-power handhelds, you can also support low-spec PCs, expanding the number of devices that can play the game. On top of that, introducing small tweaks like scalable UI also makes it better to play on an assortment of screens.

Supporting more devices is never bad, but it's always a treat to see more support for the Steam Deck as well. It's wonderful to be able to play more games on the go, and Witchfire is another amazing one. I covered the new update to test the preset, and it's just fantastic. While there are some areas that can dip into the 30s, the game will regularly stay at 40 FPS or above, while still looking incredible. This is an experience I can highly recommend.

Witchfire is on sale for $31.99 until December 18th and is rated Verified.

If you enjoyed this article, check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that will help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got you covered!