Valve has released a new beta software update for the Steam Deck that brings the system’s graphics drivers up to Mesa 23.1 and enables ray tracing in Doom Eternal. The update also fixes graphical corruption issues in some titles and improves performance in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.
The announcement was made by Steam Deck developer Pierre-Loup Griffais, who shared a screenshot of the Steam Deck running Doom Eternal with ray tracing effects enabled. According to the performance overlay, the game was running at 35 frames per second with the feature turned on.
Griffais also revealed that the team is working on enabling DirectX Raytracing on the Steam Deck, but it will likely take more time to develop due to the limited hardware on the system. Doom Eternal was likely chosen for ray tracing because of its well-optimized performance across a wide range of hardware.
While it is currently unknown which other games will support ray tracing on the Steam Deck, future updates will likely enable the feature for more titles. Steam Deck’s continued development and improvement showcase Valve’s commitment to providing the best possible gaming experience on the device.
Overall, the addition of ray tracing support to the Steam Deck is a significant development that will allow players to enjoy more immersive and visually stunning games on the go. It will be interesting to see how other games perform with ray tracing enabled on the device and how the Steam Deck’s hardware and software continue to evolve in the future.
SteamOS 3.4.6 Preview contains fixes for invalid rendering and performance improvements for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Also comes with Ray-Tracing support for DOOM Eternal! pic.twitter.com/EViKO0Y4kk
— Pierre-Loup Griffais (@Plagman2) March 3, 2023
