Steam Deck update means Halo Infinite works again (on Windows)
New Windows drivers fix a bug with Halo Infinite, as well as audio glitches
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TheSteam Deckcan run Windows instead of the default SteamOS, as you’re likely aware, and freshly released drivers for those who’ve installedMicrosoft’s OS on their handheld have fixed issues with playingHalo Infinite.
PC Gamerspotted that there are newWindows drivers for the Steam Deckavailable for download, and that the new APU driverresolvesthe problems that meantHalo Infinitehad stopped working (it crashed when trying to run the game).
Some other games which the previous version of the APU driver also threw spanners in the works for are now cured of those issues, too.
It’s also worth noting that the audio driver for Windows wasupdated, as well, a few days beforehand, again to fix up some bugs. Going by feedback online, one of those glitches was that only the left speaker worked following a cold boot of theSteamDeck, and this is now a thing of the past thanks to the overhauled audio driver.
In otherSteam Deck gamenews, it’s also good to hear thatFinal Fantasy7 Remake Intergrade, which just became available on Steam today, is a ‘Verified’ title for Valve’s handheld (as flagged byPC GamesN).
Analysis: Roll on dual booting…
Halo Infinite doesn’t work on the default OS for the Steam Deck (namely SteamOS) because of its anti-cheat feature. Naturally, inWindows 11(orWindows 10), you’re fine on this front (or you were until a recent APU driver messed up things, with the remedy for that now in place in this latest version, of course).
Turning to Windows for greater compatibility with big-name games that have anti-cheat like Halo Infinite is one solution, but it comes with a whole bunch of caveats. You have to ditch SteamOS, and all its streamlined user-friendliness, and switching over to Windows on the Deck is not a trivial exercise, and not something the less tech-savvy will likely be doing. (For those interested in going this route, though, we have a full guide onhow to install Windows 10 and 11 on a Steam Deck).
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The good news is that getting the best of both worlds will eventually be possible, as the Steam Deck is a PC that’s fully capable of being configured to dual boot and allow you to choose between twooperating systems. It’s just that Valve needs to bring support to the SteamOS installer in the form of a dual boot wizard, and that’s incoming, but there’s no specific timeframe yet.
It’s not going to be the biggest priority for Valve, but when done, this will be a great extra ability to have for Steam Deck owners seeking additional options for running more games on the device.
Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - ‘I Know What You Did Last Supper’ - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).
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