Can You Play Counter-Strike 2 on Steam Deck? Best Settings Explained (CS2)

As Counter-Strike is directly created by Valve and they also created the Steam Deck, players might be looking to play the new game on it. Though the handheld is over a year old, not everything runs on it yet. Despite all that, we have all the information you need if you want to play Counter-Strike 2 on your Steam Deck.

Does Counter-Strike 2 Run on Steam Deck?

Steam has four classifications it awards to games depending on how they run on the Deck: Unknown, Unsupported, Playable, and Verified. Verified typically means the game runs perfectly and was built in some way to work with the deck. Playable is just one step under Verified, and it usually means it runs very well, but there might be an issue. This could be something like mislabeled buttons or resolution issues. The good news is that Counter-Strike 2, as of Sept. 27, is marked Playable, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

The only mark against it is that “some in-game text is small and may be difficult to read.” I have been playing things from fun indies to Baldur’s Gate 3 on my Deck, and when this issue has been flagged, I’ve never been bothered by it. Though, that isn’t the biggest problem in playing this game.

Best Counter-Strike 2 Steam Deck Settings

The first thing you’ll want to fix up is the sound. Go into Audio in the Settings and change Audio Device from Default Device to ACP5x. This will at least let you hear the game.

Though Counter-Strike 2 runs on the Steam Deck without any problem, it isn’t exactly actually in a playable form unless you dock it and actually play with a keyboard and mouse. Handheld players don’t have much of an option. Using a pre-made controller layout only gets you so far, and there’s no way to map the right stick properly. instead, it operates just like an old-school FPS, as there’s no freelook. It is all straight horizontal/vertical.

You can rebind all of the important controls, thanks to the in-game menus, but there isn’t an option for the right stick. This actively keeps the game from being enjoyable. To truly get the best experience from Counter-Strike 2 on Steam Deck, you’re better off waiting for an officially released controller layout that supports the handheld. If you’ve got any further questions regarding this game of the Deck, be sure to ask us in the comments below.