The Steam Deck is one of my favorite gaming systems; sometimes I even like it more than my Switch. It still feels surreal playing games like Marvel’s Spider-Man or WWE 2K25 on this device, and that’s not even touching what else can be played on the handheld.
With all that being said, I always feel some disdain for the system whenever single-player games need an internet connection. Not being able to play some of these titles in the great outdoors feels like a disservice and usually leads me to bring out my Switch again.
For the record, this isn’t Valve’s fault, not completely anyway. Publishers often push to have internet connections for their single-player games so they can collect data and show them off to stockholders or higher-ups. It’s an annoying practice that has become pretty common with a lot of AAA games, and the Steam Deck can’t prevent this.
Still, nothing is more disheartening than bringing out the Deck for some game time, only to find out that an internet connection is needed. This is currently haunting a lot of games with launchers, like Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows or EA’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, so it's not limited to one big bag.
Nintendo isn’t a perfect company; look at all the fan games they’ve taken down, but they understand that handheld single-player titles should be played offline. Switch owners can put their Switch on Airplane Mode and still play big titles like Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or Super Mario Odyssey without much issue. Granted, some of these games will ask if you want to download updates, but that can be ignored if you just want to play on the go.
Valve’s Steam Deck does have Airplane Mode and Offline Mode to quell our worries, but that can mess up some games upon activation. For the most part, players should be able to play their single-player favorites without much issue, but games with Denuvo can occasionally ruin things and require a connection. I'm looking at you, my precious Persona 5 Royal.
Even some games that don’t need an internet connection have weird online requirements. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot has separate save files for online and offline modes, which makes playing offline a frustrating experience. The save you had online won’t be the same offline, so you’re pretty much forced to have an internet connection for this single-player title.
Admittedly, this isn’t the biggest issue for Steam Deck owners as many of them want to get those achievements. We can’t blame them because receiving that little notification when getting the meaningless reward does activate some sort of melatonin in gamers. That’s just the life for some achievement hunters, and it can be a pretty rewarding experience.
The Steam Deck is still a great handheld that can play a ton of games that Nintendo’s Switch can’t. But it would be better if all of the single-player titles could be played offline. Let’s hope that the Switch 2 prioritizes offline single-player like its predecessor.