The Best Fighting Games for Steam Deck – From Guilty Gear and Skullgirls to Street Fighter and The King of Fighters

After I covered and the for Steam Deck, I’ve been testing video games in another favourite genre of mine, combating games. Over the last decade, PlayStation and Steam have turn into the most effective platforms for preventing games, and most of the best in the style run brilliantly on Steam Deck.

I personal a nice deal of combating video games on Steam, and have been playing them over the previous few weeks on Steam Deck for this function and to play online with friends. In no specific order, listed under are our picks for the most effective of the bunch. I will observe when a recreation has been formally “Verified on Steam Deck” by Valve and touch upon how those untested by Valve still run well when applicable on this feature with minor tweaks if required. It was troublesome narrowing this selection to just 10, however right here we are. Hopefully this helps you find some great fighters to play in your Steam Deck.

Guilty Gear Strive ($59.99)

Arc System Works’ is certainly one of my favourite fighting video games in years. I love the characters and it performs amazing on all platforms. I was shocked at how well it ran day one on Steam Deck, and I’ve been dipping out and in of it typically on the system over the last few weeks. The on-line play holds up well out of the field as well in my testing. Guilty Gear Strive is getting plenty of new content this 12 months with cross platform play throughout PC and PlayStation also being added. It is certainly one of the best wanting combating games ever, and excellent on Steam Deck. I’m shocked that it isn’t verified on Steam Deck already given it was utilized in some promotion for the system by Valve before.

SoulCalibur VI ($59.99)

Bandai Namco Entertainment’s and its weapon-based preventing fight received me over again on Xbox One and PS4 after I originally performed it, but it has been even higher experiencing it on more powerful techniques. I’m shocked at how properly it runs and looks on Steam Deck, and have examined the net and offline play over the last week or so with no issues. This one goes on sale quite often, and I’d suggest grabbing it with the if you do get round to buying it because the team did a fantastic job with that DLC in addition to a few of the main characters like Ivy. SoulCalibur VI is also not obtainable on any moveable system just like Guilty Gear Strive making this a fantastic method to play it on the go.

The King of Fighters XIV Steam Edition ($59.99)

I love The King of Fighters, and continues to hold a particular place in my coronary heart as the first recreation within the collection that I correctly spent time with back when it debuted on PS4. The PC variations is great on Steam Deck, and the discharge is just held back by its netcode. It isn’t as bad as Samurai Shodown, however noticeably bad in comparison with trendy fighters like Guilty Gear Strive. The King of Fighters XIV Steam Edition can also be verified on Steam Deck by Valve. This one usually will get discounted often as nicely making it worth contemplating if you’ve not played a sport in the series for a long time. There are many classic entries with better online by way of updates, however I still take pleasure in putting time into The King of Fighters XIV on Steam Deck.

Street Fighter V Champion Edition ($29.99)

Street Fighter V had a rough launch, nevertheless it has been improving a lot with every year since launching. Having played it a lot on PS4 and PC, the PC version on Steam is so much better, and I’m surprised at how good it plays on Steam Deck. It even loads faster than once I play it on PS5 through backward compatibility. has a ton of content material out of the field and the game itself is in a very good place now in phrases of its content material and on-line play. I know the online play varies for lots of people due to the implementation in Street Fighter V Champion Edition, but I’ve had good experiences so far even towards individuals who stay distant. This recreation is in all probability going by no means seeing a port to Switch both making the Steam Deck a nice portable way to expertise Street Fighter V.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax ($29.99)

Originally launched on PS3 and Xbox 360 years in the past, Sega and Arc System Works brought an enhanced version of to PS4, Switch, and Steam this yr together with a balance replace that had never been launched outside Japan earlier than. The game runs and feels great on Steam Deck so long as you play offline. I’ve not had a great expertise with it online even when enjoying wired proper now. This will doubtless get higher because the developer is patching it with rollback netcode this yr. Until then, this is a wonderful fighter that’s an important when you like Persona characters and nice music.

Granblue Fantasy Versus ($19.99)

Until Guilty Gear Strive released, was Arc System Works’ best-looking preventing recreation. Even as someone who wasn’t into Granblue Fantasy after I performed Granblue Fantasy Versus, the game floored me with its story mode and awesome fight. It is only let down by the online expertise not being as good as trendy rollback fighters. It isn’t as dangerous as say playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on-line, however it isn’t a perfect experience. If you’ve by no means heard of Granblue Fantasy but assume Granblue Fantasy Versus seems cool, I’d recommend getting it. The music, visuals, and sensible character designs come collectively very well here.

Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate ($59.99)

is a 2D fighter with fluid gameplay and great visuals, but one that’s held again by its small roster. I’ve owned this on Steam for a while now, and never got around to it until checking it out on Steam Deck when the staff announced console variations and new content. Them’s Fightin’ Herds is officially verified on Steam Deck by Valve and it runs completely both online and offline. The multiplayer worked with out issues, it has an excellent tutorial, and has plenty of potential with the console variations and crossplay coming this 12 months.

Bonus games

Classic SNK Fighters

and on PC are fantastic versions of classic games. The PC versions are one of the only ways to play these video games, and the brand new on-line updates that they obtained over the years make them essential for preventing sport followers. If you already own and play The King of Fighters XIV on Steam, it is price grabbing these because they play flawlessly on-line and are wonderful combating games. is a weird one as a result of it ran fine for me initially, however refused to boot up ever since until I used an older version of Proton on Steam Deck through compatibility. The weird thing is it works without points for a good friend of mine, however one other has the same problems I do.

Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition / MK9 (NA)

is sadly not obtainable to purchase anymore, however it is verified by Valve for Steam Deck and excellent to play on the hand held, after some tweaking. I’m not sure how Valve verified this, as a result of it doesn’t work out of the field and requires utilizing Proton 6.3-8 to function in my testing. Once you get it to work, it runs and looks like a dream. I’ve adored playing this on Xbox 360 again in the day, and it’s nice to have a totally useful version with no cutbacks on a handheld. If you own this from when it was that may be purchased, it’s an superior Mortal Kombat sport that’s value playing on Steam Deck. I’m glad I purchased it once I might, and it makes me remorse not shopping for the action recreation Transformers Devastation earlier than it was delisted.

As with my JRPG record, I had a few extra video games I wished to feature, however they both don’t run correctly, or gave me a lot of bother. I also limited a few of these to a single specific entry in a franchise if mentioned entry runs higher on Steam Deck. Hopefully this helps you find a fantastic preventing sport on Steam in your Steam Deck. I’m nonetheless going to play the few I haven’t been capable of check on Steam Deck but like The King of Fighters XV sooner or later. You might all the time purchase any of them on Steam and refund them if you aren’t a fan of the video games or how they run due to Steam’s refund policy. What do you think? Do you’ve any preventing video games you’d wish to add to this list? Feel free to remark beneath together with your favorite fighters on Steam that you’ve been enjoying on Steam Deck or any you have in mind for if you get your Deck.

[Featured picture supply: ]