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Biomes

Frozen tundra, glacier, ice forest, frozen city — what each one costs you.
Gear

Clothing, tools, weapons — described by mechanic, not made-up stats.
Systems

Cold, warmth, hunger, progression, co-op — each with an explicit "unmeasured" list.
Guides

Original long-form guides, every number traced to a source.
Tools

Four calculators that turn a decision into a number.
Compare

Permafrost against other games, and biomes against each other.
Release

9 October 2026, Early Access.
News

Official timeline only — no rumour recycling.
Sources

Where every number comes from, and what is still unmeasured.
Compatibility

Permafrost on Steam Deck — what we actually know

Short answer: unknown, and nobody honest can tell you otherwise yet. Valve has not published a compatibility rating for Permafrost, and the developer has not made a Steam Deck statement. What follows is what the official facts do establish, and exactly how we will verify the rest on launch day.

Official Permafrost screenshot — a survivor crossing the frozen landscape

What is confirmed

The only official system requirements are for Windows: Windows 10 64-bit, DirectX 12, and a GTX 1060 6GB / RX 590 8GB minimum with a GTX 1060-class GPU — modest hardware by 2026 standards. Recommended is an RTX 3070 Ti / RX 6750 XT. The game runs on Unreal Engine.

Those two facts are the entire confirmed basis for any Deck prediction:

  • Hardware class: the minimum spec targets a GPU roughly in the range a Steam Deck can approach at low settings, which historically means Deck performance is plausible rather than out of reach.
  • API: DirectX 12 titles run on Deck through Valve's Proton translation layer, not natively. Most UE games launch through Proton, but quality varies title by title.
  • Controls: Permafrost is a first/third-person survival RPG with building and crafting — the input scheme that ports worst to a handheld is base-building UI, and nothing official has been shown about controller support.

What is not confirmed

  • Valve's compatibility rating (Unverified / Playable / Verified) — it only appears on the Steam store page after Valve tests it
  • Native controller support and UI scaling for a 1280×800 screen
  • Anti-cheat or launcher behaviour that could block Proton
  • Battery life in any real session

Any site giving you a "yes it runs" or "30 fps on Deck" number before 9 October 2026 is inventing it. We do not do that — see where our numbers come from.

How to check on launch day

The definitive answer lives in one place: the compatibility badge on the top-right of the Steam store page. We will check it within hours of Early Access going live, test the practical questions (menu legibility, building UI, battery drain per hour) and log the result on the changelog with the build number.

If you are buying specifically for Deck

Practical advice: wishlist it now and wait for the badge rather than pre-ordering on faith. The 15% launch discount tier is already unlocked at 450,000+ wishlists, so waiting for the Deck verdict costs you nothing.
Full system requirements → Check your own PC instead

Data version 2026.09.24 · reviewed 24 September 2026.