In this tutorial we will be showing you how to use GeForce Now on your Steam Deck.
For those who do not know, GeForce Now is a game streaming service that can run on your Steam Deck.
This game streaming service allows you to run games that wouldn’t typically be able to run on your Deck.
One of the best parts of this streaming service is that it supports a large number of games that you already own. All you need to do is pay for the subscription, and you get access to NVIDIA’s powerful computers in the cloud.
Unfortunately, GeForce NOW does not have a native Linux application. However, it does offer a web browser version of its client that we can utilize to our advantage.
We will be getting GeForce Now to work on the Steam Deck by using the Chrome Web browser. This is the same method we use for Xbox Cloud Gaming on the Steam Deck.
How to Play GeForce NOW on the Steam Deck
Over the following steps, we will be walking you through the whole process of getting GeForce NOW to work on your Steam Deck.
By the end of this, you should have a GeForce NOW entry in your Steam library from which you can launch the game streaming service.
Changing to Desktop Mode
1. To be able to set your Steam Deck up to run GeForce NOW, you will first need to swap to desktop mode.
You can’t install and add non-steam applications through Steam’s gaming mode. To change to desktop mode you will first need to open the STEAM Menu.
You can open this menu by clicking “STEAM MENU” in the bottom-left corner or pressing the STEAM Button on your Deck.
2. With the STEAM Menu open, select the “Power” option near the bottom of the menu.
3. You will see a variety of options here. The one you want to pick is “Switch to Desktop“.
Installing the Chromium Web Browser
4. Now that you are on the desktop, you must install the Chromium web browser. This web browser will allow you to access GeForce NOW on the Steam Deck.
The easiest way to install this is by using the Discover application. You can open Discover by clicking the little bag icon in the taskbar.
5. With Discover open, use the search bar to look for “Chrome“.
If you use your Deck without a keyboard, you can bring up the virtual one by pressing STEAM + X.
6. After searching for “Chrome“, you should see a list of available applications, including “Google Chrome“.
Once you have found “Google Chrome” click the “Install” button.
Adjusting the Chrome Flatpak Settings for GeForce NOW
7. With Chrome now installed on our Steam Deck, we must make some changes for it to work fine with GeForce NOW. The problem is that Chrome doesn’t have access to the Deck’s controls at the moment.
To correct this issue, we must use the terminal on your Steam Deck.
Begin by opening the start menu by clicking the icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
8. With the start menu open, click the “System” option (1.).
You should see a list of applications open. The one you are after is called “Konsole” (2.).
9. With the Konsole application open, you must type in and run the following command.
This command allows Chrome access to the Deck’s physical controls, meaning you will be able to use your joysticks and buttons within GeForce NOW.
Remember, you can bring up the Steam Deck virtual keyboard by pressing STEAM + X.
flatpak --user override --filesystem=/run/udev:ro com.google.Chrome
Adding GeForce NOW to your Steam Deck Library
10. We are finally at the point where we can now get GeForce NOW added to your Steam Deck game library. By adding it to the library, we can use this game streaming service from within Gaming Mode.
To start this process, open the desktop version of Steam by double-clicking the “Steam” icon on the desktop.
11. With Steam now open, click the “Add a Game” button in the bottom-left corner (1.).
Next, click the “Add a Non-Steam Game...” option (2.).
12. Within the list of applications, scroll till you find “Google Chrome” (1.) and tick the checkbox next to it.
Once the application is selected, click the “Add Selected Programs” button (2.).
Adjusting Chrome to Launch GeForce Now
13. At the moment, Chrome will still only launch Chrome when used within your Steam Library.
Luckily, we can utilize Chrome’s kiosk mode so that it will launch directly into GeForce now when you open it on your Steam Deck.
To do this, change to your Steam library and search for “Chrome” or “Google Chrome” and select the entry.
14. Once on the Google Chrome Steam entry, click the “Cog” icon (1.) on the right side of the screen.
In the context menu that appears, click the “Properties...” option (2.).
15. You can take this chance to change the name of this shortcut from “Google Chrome” to “GeForce NOW“. This will make it easier to find in your Steam Deck library later.
16. Now is the crucial part where we update the launch options. By adjusting these options, we can tell Chrome to launch directly into GeForce NOW when we open it on our Steam Deck.
To the end of the launch options line, you will want to add the following. Ensure you have a space between the “"@@u" "@@"” text at the end of the existing line.
--window-size=1024,640 --force-device-scale-factor=1.25 --device-scale-factor=1.25 --kiosk "https://play.geforcenow.com"
Return to Gaming Mode
17. We finally have everything set up and can return to gaming mode.
One of the easiest ways to do this is to double-click the “Return to Gaming Mode” icon.
Launch GeForce NOW in Steam Deck’s Gaming Mode
18. To launch GeForce NOW on your Steam Deck, you must first go to your game library.
You can access your library by clicking “Library” within the STEAM Menu.
19. Once in your Steam Deck library, change to the “NON-STEAM” tab (1.).
Once on this tab, you will see all non-steam games you have added to your Steam Deck, including GeForce NOW. Click the “GeForce NOW” entry to continue (2.).
20. All we need to do now to launch GeForce NOW is to click the “Play” button.
21. You finally have GeForce NOW open on your Steam Deck.
You can use this service to easily stream games from the cloud to your Deck, including games that can’t be run on the Deck.
Conclusion
Hopefully, at this point, you will now have GeForce NOW working on your Steam Deck.
While GeForce NOW unfortunately does not have a native Linux client, we were able to work around this by using Chrome.
By using Chrome’s kiosk mode, you can use GeForce NOW’s web client on your Steam Deck as if it were an actual application. While not the best solution, it is a fully working workaround.
Please comment below if you have had any issues with getting this game streaming service to work on your Deck.
If you found this tutorial to be useful, we highly recommend checking out our many other Steam Deck guides.
