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Rockstar has made a surprise update for gaming handheld users.
As Rockstar Games Launcher Update 1.0.105.2705 comes with this update, as described in their patch notes:
Improvements have been made to support handheld gaming Windows PCs
What Was This Update For?
The Rockstar Games Launcher is the official client for their games on PC, outside of playing these games on Steam. For the most part, it has been useful for Rockstar so that they can sell games on their own platform.
In the past, the launched and their website offered more features, but today, it functions to add to their security measures and also enables telemetry.
But this launcher was built for mouse and keyboard, because up until recently, these launchers were only used on desktop PCs. Laptops have equivalent control schemes with keyboards and trackpads, but now there are even more choices.
Arguably, Windows gaming PCs started with the original GPD Win from 2015. But in the era of the Lenovo Legion Go 2 and Xbox ROG Ally, game companies like Rockstar need to take it seriously.
So this update is for those new gaming handhelds, and their players, of course. This adds options to play Rockstar’s games on the go, depending on how well it has been implemented for these devices.
As of this writing, we haven’t found players who have tried the Rockstar Games Launcher on one of their handhelds yet, but we’re sure we’ll be seeing some tests emerge in the coming days.
Of course, there’s a question that inevitably emerges too.
What About The Steam Deck?
Rockstar made it clear that this update does not make Rockstar Games Launcher work on the Steam Deck. And we don’t know if Rockstar will want to take the trouble to do so.
Now, to be clear, Rockstar’s games work fine on the Steam Deck, if you own them on Steam. Online support aside, you can still play Rockstar’s games on their console.
Rockstar Game Launcher support on Steam Deck will open the console up to gamers who own the game through Rockstar instead of Steam.
It’s also possible that some other features offered by the Rockstar Game Launcher could also be added to the Steam Deck, if they support it.
Valve promised support for non-Steam marketplaces on Steam Deck some time ago. Much like many other Valve projects, they haven’t been able to deliver on that promise yet.
Maybe Rockstar should work with Valve to add this support to their platform. Or maybe they should wait for the Steam Machine or the Steam Deck 2.
