By AION 2 is now in advanced access ahead of its full launch, so we put NC’s free-to-play MMORPG on the Steam Deck to see whether it holds up. Is it playable? Yes. Is it enjoyable? Just about, as long as you keep your expectations in check.
Performance in the hubs and the open world
The hub areas are where the Steam Deck struggles most. With lots of players and on-screen detail, the frame rate often dips below 20fps. It’s technically playable, but it isn’t pretty.
Heading out into the open world gives a slightly better balance. With some light combat going on, we were getting closer to 30fps, which is fine for basic questing and anything that isn’t too taxing.
Settings we used
We ran AION 2 on pretty much the lowest settings, with upscaling set to Balanced. We also set UI proportions to larger, which makes menus and text much easier to read on the Deck’s small screen. Even so, this is an Unreal Engine 5 game that looks absolutely gorgeous on a proper PC, and the Steam Deck doesn’t do it justice right now. Try not to zoom in on your character too much.
Controller support and auto-pathing
AION 2 isn’t really geared towards controller play yet. It defaults to keyboard and mouse, so you’ll need to switch the input to controller manually in the settings. Even then, you’ll still be reaching for the touchscreen for a lot of commands, especially when opening menus.
Auto-pathing to quest objectives isn’t bound by default and has no controller mapping either. Thanks to Steam Input, though, we can work around it with the back buttons. The game uses Alt+1, Alt+2, Alt+3 and Alt+4 to auto-path to your tracked quest items, so bind a back button to press Alt and 1 together, and you’ll auto-path to the first quest. Map the others to Alt+2, Alt+3 and so on for the second, third and fourth quests, depending on how many you have picked up.
Steam Deck status and GeForce NOW
Valve hasn’t rated AION 2 for Steam Deck yet, and given the current state of performance and controls, I don’t expect it to get an official Verified or Playable status anytime soon. For those who love GeForce NOW, there are rumours that AION 2 has been tagged for the service, but there’s no confirmation on whether or when that will happen. If it does, we’ll let you know.
Final thoughts
Right now, AION 2 is pretty rough on the Steam Deck, but it is technically playable. If you just want to knock out your dailies and do some quests from the sofa, it’s a passable option once you’ve sorted the controller setup. I’m sure we’ll see patches and improvements as the game progresses, and we’ll be keeping an eye on how it runs.
