Railway Empire 2 is the latest entry in the Railway Empire series, having just been released on May 25, 2023. Gaming Minds Studios is back as the developer for the game, along with Kalypso Media as the publisher. In Railway Empire 2, you play as an entrepreneur who becomes the head of a small railway company. Set in the early 1800s, players will need to expand their company, go head-to-head against competitors, and turn their company “into the largest railway company of the continent.” The ambitions are high, and so are the risks. But can we build our empire on the go?
The Steam Deck has achieved immense popularity ever since it was unveiled back in February 2022. In such a short amount of time, it has gone from being a niche device to becoming mainstream. And its library of more than 8,000 verified/playable games keeps expanding with each passing month. So, how’s Railway Empire 2 when it comes to the Steam Deck Compatibility status? Let’s find out!
Railway Empire 2 Steam Deck Compatibility Details & More
Officially, Railway Empire 2 has yet to get the Deck Verified status. However, it’s still playable on the Steam Deck. At least according to one of the developers, who answered a post about Steam Deck compatibility on the game’s Steam Discussion page. And if we go by ProtonDB, then that answer checks out. Railway Empire 2, as per ProtonDB’s Deck Verified Status, is currently “Playable”.
So what’s the difference between Deck Verified and Playable? Well, if a game is Deck Verified, then it will run right out of the box. Playable, on the other hand, needs some tweaking with the in-game settings in order to play the game. For a game to gain the Verified status, it needs to fulfill four prerequisites –
Input
The game needs to have full controller support and use appropriate input icons related to the controller. Furthermore, the on-screen keyboard should automatically pop up whenever needed by the user.
Display
First and foremost, the in-game text should be legible to the user. The title will also need to support the default resolution of Steam Deck (1280×800 or 1280×720).
Seamlessness
If the game comes with a launcher, then that launcher should be navigable using the controller. The game also shouldn’t display compatibility warnings.
System Support
If a game is running using Proton, then it should be supported by it, including the middleware. This also includes anti-cheat.
Once a game satisfies these four prerequisites, it will get the Deck Verified status. But Gaming Minds Studios has yet to get the Deck Verification for Railway Empire 2. You can still enjoy the game on your Steam Deck, but the text might not be entirely legible. Also, you will most likely have to mess around with the settings in order to run the game at a stable frame rate on the handheld PC.
You can follow the official Twitter handle of Kalypso Media to get notified of any announcements related to Railway Empire 2 and its compatibility status with the Steam Deck. For more on Steam Deck compatibility and gaming in general, don’t forget to follow DigiStatement.
Also, read: Railway Empire 2: How to rotate buildings
