Can I play Battlefield 6 on Steam Deck, ROG Xbox Ally, and other gaming handheld PCs?

No Steam Deck support at launch, sadly

With the likes of ARC Raiders and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 on the way in the coming weeks, this autumn is shaping up to be an exciting quarter of 2025 for multiplayer and FPS fans. A game that has major potential to outperform them both, though, is Battlefield 6 — the latest installment in Electronic Arts' (EA) and DICE's legendary combined arms-driven PvP shooter.

Following a bombastic head-turning multiplayer reveal in late July and an industry-dominating Open Beta in August that even managed to break a long-standing Call of Duty record, excitement for Battlefield 6 is surging in the days ahead of its October 10 launch times.

Players are greatly looking forward to a Battlefield with the series' traditional class system again, along with tons of new guns and gadgets, the franchise's most advanced destruction physics yet, and more. It's coming to traditional systems like Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5, but fans are also wondering if they'll be able to enjoy it on gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck, too.

The answer is ultimately that it depends on the handheld you're using, and unfortunately for Steam Deck users, that answer is no. Aside from the fact that the system would likely struggle to run Battlefield 6 due to its weak overall specs, it also uses the Linux-based SteamOS; the game's proprietary EA Javelin anti-cheat software is a kernel-level program that doesn't work on Linux, meaning the game won't run on the Deck.

Of course, you can always install Windows on your Steam Deck so you can enable Secure Boot to get around this limitation, but doing so leads to a somewhat notoriously buggy experience. And again, on top of that, the handheld's lower-end specs mean Battlefield 6 might not run well on it even if you had Windows.

What about other gaming handhelds?

While playing Battlefield 6 on the Steam Deck is either impossible due to the Linux-based nature of SteamOS and its incompatibility with EA's anti-cheat, or simply a bad idea because of the system's instability with Windows and its entry-level specs, doing so with other gaming handhelds is a different story.

Specifically, more performant Windows gaming handhelds like the ASUS ROG Ally, ROG Ally X, Lenovo Legion Go, and the MSI Claw 8 AI+ (good luck finding one) should have no serious trouble running EA's new FPS. You don't have to worry about the Steam Deck's Linux problem since they use Windows, and they all have far more impressive hardware under the hood, too.

There's also the ROG Xbox Ally, ROG Xbox Ally X, and Lenovo Legion Go 2 coming later this month, with the former two just a week away from release and the latter expected by the end of October. These, too, will be very well-suited to playing Battlefield 6.

It helps that Battlefield 6 also has fairly tame minimum requirements and recommended specs for a new AAA game in 2025, translating to a smoother experience when using a handheld. Notably, the game's August Open Beta ran very well on these systems, which is a very good sign.

Of course, you'll have to keep in mind that you'll need to turn various settings in the game down, as even the most performant gaming handheld out there pales in comparison to the horsepower of a regular gaming PC and thus can't handle cranking things to max. Still, thanks to smaller screens and the availability of Super Resolution technologies like AMD FSR, low resolution and low settings still look excellent on these systems.

Note that Battlefield 6 is available for preorder for $69.99 across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Steam, Epic Games, EA), and PS5. There aren't any deals for the Standard Edition available, but there's one for the $100 Phantom Edition that knocks it to $89.99 at Loaded (formerly CDKeys) on Xbox.

Battlefield 6 | $69.99 at Amazon (Xbox)

The latest entry in the legendary Battlefield series looks fantastic, and will hopefully bring the franchise back into a positive spotlight after the disappointment of Battlefield 2042. Preorders for the game are available now across all its platforms.

Also for: PC | PS5
Phantom Edition: $89.99 at Loaded (Xbox)

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