Good news for Steam Deck fans: Nvidia is making it a little easier to use their GeForce Now game streaming service on Valve's handheld gaming PCs

This is important because, until now, the GeForce Now service has not been available on Valve's handheld gaming PCs This is important because, until now, it has been possible to run the game streaming service on the Steam Deck, but it has been cumbersome because Nvidia's GeForce Now Windows 11 app does not work well with the SteamOS interface on the Steam Deck This is because the Steam Deck's SteamOS interface does not work well with the Windows 11 app Instead, many Deck owners use GeForce Now by switching to desktop mode, launching a browser window, and streaming GeForce Now games through it

However, this week, Nvidia updated the GeForce Now download page with a new Steam Deck (BETA) download link that, when clicked, automatically links to GeForce Now in the Steam Deck library, along with all other Steam Download the applet to place it with the game

This adds a custom Google Chrome shortcut to the Steam Deck library that is automatically configured for gamepad support and optimal game streaming to Valve's handhelds the GeForce Now app is a game browsing via the pad is now also supported, a significant usability upgrade from the days when Steam Deck users had to navigate the app via their handheld's trackpad

But it's still far from perfect, which is why it's great that Nvidia is clearly labeling this download as a beta version of the installer; if you head to the customer support section of Nvidia's website, you'll find that Steam Deck has a GeForce Now to Steam Deck, you will find a detailed help document outlining multiple ways to install GeForce Now This includes how to set it up yourself if you do not want to use the new GeForce Now installation script [There are a few settings to tweak for an optimal GeForce Now experience, so if you plan to do this for Steam Deck, it's worth a quick look over Most notably, Nvidia warns that some games require gamepad input to be enabled in the in-game settings menu before you can pay using the Deck's "pad"

According to Nvidia, "In 'Genshin Impact,' you must wait until you are well into the game before you can set the game settings In other words, it appears that there is still some way to go before streaming GeForce Now games on Steam Deck will be as easy and convenient as playing games that have been confirmed to work well on Valve's handhelds

Still, this is a small but important step forward for GeForce Now on Steam Deck, as Nvidia's game streaming service has historically been a bit frustrating to use on Valve's handhelds And since the whole point of Steam Deck is to play PC games on the go, and Nvidia's GeForce Now is one of the best cloud gaming services on the market today, this upgrade seems to have been long overdue