How to play Bloodborne on the Steam Deck

Bloodborne is finally playable on Valve’s handheld gaming PC – the Steam Deck, thanks to the work of a passionate group of developers. The game runs on the Deck through the power of emulation, and despite its shortcomings is quite an impressive feat.

A rundown of the steps required to get the game up and running on the Steam Deck can be found detailed below, along with some tweaks and recommended settings for a smoother experience.

How to install Bloodborne on the Steam Deck

You will require a copy of Bloodborne and its v1.09 update PKG files, along with certain sysmodules (optional). You will also require the QT version of shadPS4 – from this specific fork, given that the main branch’s Linux builds are currently broken.

In short, you will have to:

• Download and install shadPS4 via the Desktop Mode of your Steam Deck. You will require a mouse and keyboard to navigate the UI.
• Transfer your Bloodborne and v1.09 update files over.
• Install the game using shadPS4.
• Add in sysmodules (optional).
• Tweak in some patches.
• Add the shadPS4 launcher to your Steam Library (Games > Add a non-steam game to library > select the executable).

You can now simply head back to the usual Steam Deck game mode UI and launch the shadPS4 program to in turn launch Bloodborne.

The game should work right out of the box now.

For a full list of steps, refer to our guide here.

Recommended patches to use

• Skip Intro (optional)
• Disable Chromatic Aberration
• Disable Motion Blur
• Disable HTTP Requests
• 30 FPS Fix; recommended to use this over the 60 FPS patch given that game doesn’t have a particularly stable frame rate right now -especially on the Deck
• Force Enable Old Hunters DLC
• Resolution Patch (720p); highly recommended for lower VRAM and CPU usage

Sections that require keyboard input might require you to either use the virtual keyboard or a real, physical keyboard instead.  

Some things to keep in mind before you start playing Bloodborne on the Steam Deck

PS4 emulation is in a constant state of flux right now, and the emulator is technically a bleeding edge project. These steps as such, might not be indicative of the most up-to-date way to play the game.

However, updates if any will be addressed to this post over time.

Furthermore, do not expect a consistent, glitch free experience on the Deck. Bloodborne on PC suffers from VRAM leaks and performance will degrade over time. A 15 W TDP is recommended, and you should expect 30-ish FPS in-game.

It’s a rather impressive feat regardless, and PS4 emulation should only get better over time – as it should, given that this might be the only way to preserve classics (such as Bloodborne) reliably.

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