In community Steam Deck news, Pokémon Pokopia can now run natively on the handheld. Pokopia Native 1.4.0 takes the project’s Linux and Steam Deck build out of beta, so the Deck gets the same release and version number as the Windows and Mac builds, with a one-file AppImage, a lighter handheld mode, anti-aliasing and support for your own DLC.
The developer, u/xFractals, shared the release on r/SteamDeck, and the thread quickly filled up with questions about performance and how it all works. Here’s what’s new, what you need, and how it’s running so far.
What Pokopia Native actually does
Pokopia Native is a free, open-source, MIT-licensed project that rebuilds Pokémon Pokopia, a Switch 2 game, to run directly on your own hardware. It isn’t an emulator. Instead of imitating a whole console while you play, the builder takes the game’s arm64 code from your own dump and recompiles it into an x86-64 program once, using LLVM, while you build. The project’s runtime then answers the game’s calls for files, controllers, sound and saves, and the game’s graphics are translated to Vulkan.
The developer compares it to Proton with one extra step. Proton never has to translate CPU code because Windows games are already x86, while Pokopia Native does that translation once at build time, so nothing is translating CPU code while you play. On Linux and the Deck it’s a native build, not a Windows build running through Proton.
If you’ve followed native PC ports on the handheld, like the Twilight Princess PC port I played on Steam Deck, this is a similar idea reached a different way: an automated recompile of the game’s code rather than a hand-made port.
What’s new for Steam Deck in 1.4.0
Linux and Steam Deck support went through six public betas before this release. The highlights for Deck owners are:
- One AppImage, no terminal steps. The builder comes as a single file with its own Python and .NET runtime. You make it executable, open it, and follow the builder page by page. A zip for terminal users is there too, for when the AppImage won’t start.
- Handheld mode on Deck. On an LCD or OLED Deck, the game now picks its own lighter handheld settings, drawing the 3D scene at 1600×900 instead of 1920×1080. F1, then Console mode, then Docked (TV) switches back from the next start.
- Launch it from Steam. In Desktop Mode you add the game’s launcher script from your build folder’s out folder as a non-Steam game, and it then sits in your library in Game Mode.
- Anti-aliasing. SMAA is the default, with lighter FXAA as an option, under F1, then Graphics, then Anti-aliasing. It’s applied before the HUD, so text and menus stay sharp.
- DLC support. If you bought the DLC, Add my DLC on the builder’s last page uses your own dump of it. The project never downloads, makes or unlocks DLC.
- A smoother frame rate when the CPU is the limit. On Deck, the game’s own work and the translation of its graphics commands used to take turns on one CPU core, which held the betas to about 30fps. In 1.4.0 they run side by side on two cores.
What you need to run it
You’ll need your own legally obtained copy of Pokémon Pokopia and your own dump of it. Pokopia Native ships no game files, no keys and no dumping tools, and everything made from your dump stays in your build folder on your machine. The project asks people never to share build folders, apps, saves or shader files, and says it isn’t affiliated with Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, GAME FREAK or Koei Tecmo.
On the hardware side, Linux and the Deck need an x86-64 CPU with AVX2 and FMA3, a Vulkan 1.3 driver (SteamOS already has one), 16GB of memory and about 15GB free where the build folder goes. Every Deck model covers that, as long as it’s on SteamOS 3.6 or newer.
Set aside some time for the first run. The project’s general estimate for a first build is 15 to 40 minutes, with updates taking 10 to 20, and its Linux guide puts the recompile on a Deck at about 30 to 45 minutes. It suggests leaving the Deck plugged in, and if the build stops, running it again picks up where it left off.
Link Play and story co-op
Link Play connects Pokopia Native on Windows, Mac, iPhone, Linux and Android in any mix, for up to four players, without Nintendo’s servers. Story co-op is listed as experimental, and the developer says he removed the spectator restrictions so visitors can actually play through story mode with the host. On Linux, a game on the same Wi-Fi joins a host by its address for now, rather than finding it automatically. Saves move between devices, and the developer confirmed in the thread that you can bring a save over from other Pokopia projects.
How it’s running on Deck so far
This is the part to be careful with. The release notes are upfront that no Deck had run 1.4.0 before release, so the developer’s numbers were estimates. In the thread he said it should do a locked 30 and a stable 60 for the majority of the time, and the notes suggest F1, then Frame rate, then 30fps if you want a steady 30 instead.
Early player reports were more mixed. u/AloneWithMyDog reported around 40fps in caves and closed-in areas on a Steam Deck OLED, but high teens to low 20s in busier spots like the main hub. Another player said they saw the 30s with dips into the 20s when things got busy. The developer replied that he’d found a bug putting more strain on the GPU than it needed, and that it would be fixed in the next update.
That next update, Pokopia Native 1.4.1, arrived a few hours later with Deck changes. It now draws at the Deck’s own 1280×720 with FXAA by default, does less graphics work per draw, and sleeps instead of spinning while it waits between frames. On the developer’s test PC that came to 18% less graphics time at 1280×720, but no Deck had measured it yet, so I’d treat it as promising rather than proven. If you’re on an OLED Deck, the notes also recommend setting the screen to 60Hz in the Quick Access menu’s Performance page, because 60fps doesn’t divide evenly into 90Hz. Valve’s new Steam Deck framerate data explains that same VSync behaviour well.
Only download it from the official page
One commenter warned that AppImages can read your personal folders, and the developer agreed, saying the only official downloads are from the project’s GitHub page. The project also says it’s free and always will be, so anyone asking you to pay for it, or for anything made with it, has nothing to do with it. If something breaks, the builder can produce a report with your logs, which the developer says helps the most.
My take on this Steam Deck news
This is a really interesting one. Native Linux recompiles are a very different route from the usual emulation setup you’d get through something like RetroDECK, and having the Deck on the same release track as Windows and Mac makes cross-device Link Play much simpler. Performance clearly still needs work in busy areas, and as with any project like this, you’re responsible for supplying your own copy of the game. I’ll be keeping an eye on how 1.4.1 and the next fixes run on Deck.
