Testing shows Steam Deck runs Cyberpunk 2077's big 2.0 update just fine

Cyberpunk 2077's big 2.0 update has landed, ahead of the launch of the incoming Phantom Liberty expansion (which arrives tomorrow), and there's good news for Steam Deck owners.

While it's true that Cyberpunk 2077 version 2.0 (with DLSS 3.5 on board) does up the system requirements for the game, it still remains perfectly playable on Valve's handheld.

This is according to testing conducted by German tech site Computerbase as flagged up by Tom's Hardware.

We do have to bear in mind that Cyberpunk 2077 is running at 1280 x 800 resolution, of course, and it has the benefit of FSR 2.0 to boost those frame rates. But on medium image settings, the game still managed to achieve a solid 30 frames per second (with 1% lows of 22 fps at the worst dips).

That's pretty nifty when you consider how relatively demanding Cyberpunk 2077 is, particularly with this new patch applied.

Dropping visual settings to low (again with FSR) can eke out a few more frames per second, with Cyberpunk 2077 hitting 33 fps in this case (with 1% lows of 25 fps).

As Computerbase concludes:

"The Steam Deck can deliver a smooth gaming experience on the small screen even with the medium preset."

Of course, 30 frames per second is more palatable than actually smooth - you're really looking at 60 fps for the latter - but it's still an impressive achievement for Valve's handheld.

It also demonstrates there's a good dollop of life left in the Steam Deck yet in terms of its future-proofing, which is just as well, because a Steam Deck sequel won't be coming for a long time yet.

In fact, a Valve designer recently confirmed that we won't see the Steam Deck 2 until 2025 at the earliest, and it'll more likely be 2026 for the next iteration of the gaming portable to arrive.