Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Just Got Steam Deck Verified — Now You Can Whip Nazis On the Go

Hold onto your hats—and yes, your whips too—because Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is officially Steam Deck Verified. That’s right, you can now go full archaeologist mode from the comfort of your couch, commute, or bathroom (we won’t judge) without worrying if your favorite fedora-wearing adventurer is about to crash your handheld dreams. MachineGames’ high-octane, tomb-raiding, Nazi-punching adventure has joined the elite ranks of games that run really well on Valve’s handheld powerhouse.

A Quick Recap of What The Great Circle Is, In Case You’ve Been Trapped in a Tomb

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is the latest entry from MachineGames, the studio behind Wolfenstein. It’s a narrative-rich, action-packed adventure set between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, putting you in the dusty boots of Dr. Henry Jones Jr. himself.

It’s got everything: ancient puzzles, thrilling chases, whip-swinging traversal, bad guys with bad mustaches, and a surprising emotional core. The game mixes first-person gameplay with third-person cutscenes, letting you feel like Indy while still watching him work his cinematic magic. With critical praise across platforms—especially for its storytelling and vibe-heavy set pieces—it’s no wonder players wanted it on-the-go. And now, thanks to Steam Deck verification, that’s exactly what we’ve got.

Steam Deck Optimization: What’s Been Whipped Into Shape?

The devs didn’t just slap a green checkmark on it and call it a day. A hotfix rolled out alongside the Steam Deck verification includes performance tweaks tailor-made for Deck players. According to MachineGames:

“When running the game on Steam Deck, the ‘Texture Pool Size’ is now set to a value called ‘Steam Deck’ to avoid exceeding RAM limits that will crash the game.”

Translation: You won’t suddenly get booted back to your Steam library mid-whip because your handheld ran out of memory.

But that’s not all. You can still tweak other graphics settings to your heart’s content, whether you’re chasing frame rate perfection or just want to make Indy’s leather jacket look extra crispy. The optimization is designed to balance stability with visual fidelity, so no, the game won’t look like it’s running on a Game Boy Color.

The Bug Fixes You Didn’t Know You Needed (But Definitely Did)

MachineGames also addressed a handful of hilarious and mildly game-breaking bugs, because nothing ruins an epic moment like watching Indy drop his lighter mid-puzzle like a clumsy intern. Previously, quick-fingered players who button mashed the d-pad while picking up objects would cause Indy to yeet crucial gear (like said lighter) into the digital abyss. Now, those missing items should reappear once the patch is installed and the game is relaunched. Praise be to lost inventory gods.

Also fixed: a weird glitch where the cave door in Iraq decided to remain stubbornly closed if players revisited the level. Now the door plays nice, because Indiana Jones needs to explore, not bang his head against ancient stone in frustration.

DualSense Controller Upgrades — Because Indy Deserves Haptics

Even though The Great Circle debuted on Xbox and PC, it recently swung onto PS5, and the devs are clearly paying attention to DualSense users too.

The update improves Adaptive Trigger feedback, so Indy’s revolver won’t feel like it’s stuck when he’s talking to NPCs. (Because, yeah, apparently that was a thing. You’d aim at a friendly and the controller would click like it knew you were thinking about it.) Now, there’s even a menu setting to adjust trigger strength or turn it off altogether—ideal if you prefer your adventure to be a bit more old-school.

Steam Deck Performance: Smooth Like a Rope Slide

While The Great Circle wasn’t exactly a resource hog to begin with, Deck players can now expect consistent performance, fewer crashes, and fluid 60fps gameplay in most areas. Considering the game already boasted ray-traced global illumination (RTGI) and solid performance across consoles, this is a win for handheld fans. Sure, the Steam Deck may not give you the same visual punch as a beefy RTX 4090 setup, but let’s be honest: being able to explore ancient tombs from your hotel bed or waiting room seat is the real next-gen experience.

Let’s be real: the Steam Deck is a blessing for gamers who don’t have the time (or back strength) to be glued to a gaming chair all night. And Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is exactly the kind of game that works beautifully in bite-sized sessions—one tomb, one train chase, one whip-snap at a time.

Now that it runs reliably on Deck, you can enjoy the full experience without framerate dips, random crashes, or melting RAM. Whether you’re at home, on a plane, or hiding in your car during lunch break, you’re good to go.