Here's how to get Starfield to run better on Steam Deck

You can technically play Starfield on your Steam Deck even if it isn't verified, but there's a mod that should help make its performance a bit smoother.

The best thing about the Steam Deck is that it gives you the opportunity to play a bunch of PC games without having to be hunched over your desk. Its only real downside is that not every game is going to run amazingly on the hardware, as it is a handheld after all. But I wouldn't blame you if you still wanted to give Starfield ago on your Steam Deck. Luckily, though, as shared by PCGamesN, there's a Steam Deck specific mod that's all about helping the game run better on the handheld.

The mod in question was made by Hybred, and is quite simply called the Steam Deck Essentials mod. "This mod aims to improve performance, stability & consistency for the Steam Deck & other low powered handhelds/PCs," reads the description for the mod. "Offering up to 38% better performance compared to vanilla Low settings depending on the scene." By the sounds of things, the mod should also work for other handhelds like the ROG Ally too, so you can probably be pretty flexible if you own something other than a Steam Deck.

Hybrid does note in the mod's description that they recommend you set up CryoUtilities and set your VRAM to 4GB prior to installing the mod, the former being a "program that tweaks SteamOS and can give you performance gains for free and make frametimes smoother in games."

Starfield modders have quite quickly looked out for those with lower end PCs it seems, as there's also a potato mode mod that was recently released. This one essentially compresses all of the textures, making them look a lot fuzzier, but smaller in size so that even quiet low-spec PCs can run it.

If you're looking for some more good mods to check out, then you might want to take a look at our list of the best Starfield mods.