Steam Deck

Jenzi · October 23

I’m getting a Steam Deck for Christmas and I noticed recently that ESO is going to be compatible with it now but I don’t play the game on steam currently. I understand that I just need to purchase it on steam and link the account, but how does it work for the chapters and dlc that I already own? Will I have to purchase them again through steam or will they just show up as already purchased?

Tommy_The_Gun · October 23

You don't need Steam Version to play ESO on Steam Deck. You can install regular PC non-steam ESO on Steam Deck. I mean, if you have it already on a PC you don't even need to install it on a steam deck - just copy the entire ESO game folder over to the Steam Deck via SD card or thumb drive and then add ESO Launcher .exe as a non-steam game & enable proton in options. After the game boots, all you need to do is enable gamepad support if it is not enabled by default. What I have also noticed is that Accessibility mode also helps a lot as it makes certain fonts larger - very helpful if you are going to play on a smaller handheld screen.

How do I know that ? Cuz I own Steam Deck and it works that way.

Jenzi · October 23

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

You don't need Steam Version to play ESO on Steam Deck. You can install regular PC non-steam ESO on Steam Deck. I mean, if you have it already on a PC you don't even need to install it on a steam deck - just copy the entire ESO game folder over to the Steam Deck via SD card or thumb drive and then add ESO Launcher .exe as a non-steam game & enable proton in options. After the game boots, all you need to do is enable gamepad support if it is not enabled by default. What I have also noticed is that Accessibility mode also helps a lot as it makes certain fonts larger - very helpful if you are going to play on a smaller handheld screen.

How do I know that ? Cuz I own Steam Deck and it works that way.

That’s very helpful, thank you, I’ll do that. What if I actually did decide to get the Steam version and play it through Steam, do you know the answer?

CameraBeardThePirate · October 23

So while you don't need to purchase it on Steam to play on the Steam Deck, it can be a little annoying to use the third party launcher on Deck, and you wouldn't have access to any of the community keybinds for ESO since those are categorized by game.

If you drop $5 (or whatever the price is, I got it on sale) on the base version of ESO on Steam, and link your ESO account to your Steam account, you're good to go. All your progress, expansions, purchases, and account data is stored on your ESO account, so you only need the base game on Steam.

Elsonso · October 23

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

You don't need Steam Version to play ESO on Steam Deck. You can install regular PC non-steam ESO on Steam Deck. I mean, if you have it already on a PC you don't even need to install it on a steam deck - just copy the entire ESO game folder over to the Steam Deck via SD card or thumb drive and then add ESO Launcher .exe as a non-steam game & enable proton in options. After the game boots, all you need to do is enable gamepad support if it is not enabled by default. What I have also noticed is that Accessibility mode also helps a lot as it makes certain fonts larger - very helpful if you are going to play on a smaller handheld screen.

How do I know that ? Cuz I own Steam Deck and it works that way.

Interesting. I have a Steam and non-Steam account on PC, but stopped playing the Steam one. I had considered the Steam Deck to access the non-Steam account and bypass the spyware ZOS recently added that blocks me from running ESO on my main gaming PC

Aylish · October 23

Your DLCs and stuff from regular version remain if you play via Steam. You just buy the base game on Steam and keep the stuff you already own. They are saved on your ESO account.
I did it a while back when I wanted to play on my laptop with GeForce Now.

FriedEggSandwich · October 23

Afaik, all buying the game on steam does is give you a slightly modified game launcher, although it appears identical. You still need the game launcher to install and update the game though, and all steam does is launch the launcher. The only differences I notice are that steam logs game time, and the game will auto login (remember my password) if I launch through steam. It also changes the file directory that ESO is installed in.

I bought the game from the website at release, and then several years later bought the steam version on sale for £5. I currently have the game installed through steam, but I can still launch the game from eso64.exe if I choose, and bypass both steam and the version of the ESO launcher that steam installs. This works even if steam is not running, but steam will not log game time if you do this.

Jenzi · October 23

Thank you everyone for clearing that up for me, I appreciate the answers. I think I’ll wait for it to go on sale on steam again and do it that way.

wolfie1.0. · October 23

Jenzi wrote: »

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

You don't need Steam Version to play ESO on Steam Deck. You can install regular PC non-steam ESO on Steam Deck. I mean, if you have it already on a PC you don't even need to install it on a steam deck - just copy the entire ESO game folder over to the Steam Deck via SD card or thumb drive and then add ESO Launcher .exe as a non-steam game & enable proton in options. After the game boots, all you need to do is enable gamepad support if it is not enabled by default. What I have also noticed is that Accessibility mode also helps a lot as it makes certain fonts larger - very helpful if you are going to play on a smaller handheld screen.

How do I know that ? Cuz I own Steam Deck and it works that way.

That’s very helpful, thank you, I’ll do that. What if I actually did decide to get the Steam version and play it through Steam, do you know the answer?

You can link your existing account via the eso website to steam, and play it from there.

I have played eso both the way Tommy has described and the way I have. Either works fine.

Only use the steam method if you just want to play a single account though. Steam won't let you add a second account linked to the same steam account.

Lumsdenml · October 24

Elsonso wrote: »

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

You don't need Steam Version to play ESO on Steam Deck. You can install regular PC non-steam ESO on Steam Deck. I mean, if you have it already on a PC you don't even need to install it on a steam deck - just copy the entire ESO game folder over to the Steam Deck via SD card or thumb drive and then add ESO Launcher .exe as a non-steam game & enable proton in options. After the game boots, all you need to do is enable gamepad support if it is not enabled by default. What I have also noticed is that Accessibility mode also helps a lot as it makes certain fonts larger - very helpful if you are going to play on a smaller handheld screen.

How do I know that ? Cuz I own Steam Deck and it works that way.

bypass the spyware ZOS recently added that blocks me from running ESO on my main gaming PC

Whaaaaaaatttttt?????

TaSheen · October 24

Lumsdenml wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

You don't need Steam Version to play ESO on Steam Deck. You can install regular PC non-steam ESO on Steam Deck. I mean, if you have it already on a PC you don't even need to install it on a steam deck - just copy the entire ESO game folder over to the Steam Deck via SD card or thumb drive and then add ESO Launcher .exe as a non-steam game & enable proton in options. After the game boots, all you need to do is enable gamepad support if it is not enabled by default. What I have also noticed is that Accessibility mode also helps a lot as it makes certain fonts larger - very helpful if you are going to play on a smaller handheld screen.

How do I know that ? Cuz I own Steam Deck and it works that way.

bypass the spyware ZOS recently added that blocks me from running ESO on my main gaming PC

Whaaaaaaatttttt?????

Yeah.... not sure what that's all about.

Elsonso · October 24

Lumsdenml wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

You don't need Steam Version to play ESO on Steam Deck. You can install regular PC non-steam ESO on Steam Deck. I mean, if you have it already on a PC you don't even need to install it on a steam deck - just copy the entire ESO game folder over to the Steam Deck via SD card or thumb drive and then add ESO Launcher .exe as a non-steam game & enable proton in options. After the game boots, all you need to do is enable gamepad support if it is not enabled by default. What I have also noticed is that Accessibility mode also helps a lot as it makes certain fonts larger - very helpful if you are going to play on a smaller handheld screen.

How do I know that ? Cuz I own Steam Deck and it works that way.

bypass the spyware ZOS recently added that blocks me from running ESO on my main gaming PC

Whaaaaaaatttttt?????

I call it "spyware" but they probably call it "anti-cheat" protection. Same thing.

They are scanning the process table for "unauthorized" applications. If they detect one, they will close the game. Crash the game is probably more accurate. They are being very broad with their list and flagging task manager tools provided by Microsoft that I have been using for years on all my PCs. That is how I discovered that they were doing it.

I do not have problems when playing any of my other MMO games. None of them. ZOS seems to have their anti-cheat misconfigured. I am waiting for ZOS to fix it. It is why PC is crossed off in my signature.

In the mean time, I am simply playing on XBox NA and EU. I was intrigued by Steam Deck but only in the case where I am not locked to my Steam linked account. Sounds like it might be a possibility, but I would need more than an MMO in decline to justify purchasing a Steam Deck.