Is FM26 Steam Deck compatible?

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Niall Walsh's Avatar

While the FM26 Steam Deck rating is not yet confirmed, an early look at the hardware demands from the game suggests that Valve's gaming handheld may struggle with the higher-than-usual recommended requirements, but should fare well when looking at what is listed as the minimum spec.

The FM26 system requirements are now out, following the release of a match day experience trailer, and while the minimum specs seem to favor the Steam Deck, it's the recommended specs that give us cause for concern. However, as the situation stands right now, we're not expecting an official rating until after release.

Football Manager 26 does not yet have a Steam Deck rating. This is normal, given that we still don't even have an FM26 release date, although the game is expected to be released before the end of 2025.

Previous editions of Football Manager have worked well on the Steam Deck, but they have never been verified, typically due to the small text and a lack of native controller support, a feature that is exclusive to the console versions of the game.

Based on the system requirements, the Steam Deck may be in for more of an uphill battle with FM26, at least when it comes to speedy processing times and the new graphics engine, which requires an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 if you hope to meet the recommended specs. This is more powerful than the aging custom AMD CPU in the Steam Deck, although the minimum demands only call for a GTX 960, which is much more favorable for the Steam Deck.

Time will tell whether FM26 earns a positive Steam Deck rating, but we don't expect to see anything until the game has launched later this year.

If you want to get the full experience playing FM on the best handheld gaming PC, then you're going to want the best Steam Deck dock from our buying guide so you can hook up a mouse and keyboard without any issues.

Are you looking to play Football Manager 26 on the Steam Deck when it's out, or will you be sticking to a gaming PC or laptop? Let us know over on our community Discord server.