Yes, Diablo 4 CAN work on the Steam Deck, it is quite a mission to get the Battle.net launcher to run properly, and the performance is less than ideal, as the game is not officially supported. Enter the ASUS ROG Ally, a new, premium handheld device released on 13 June 2023. As a Diablo 4 fan, I first asked myself, how does gameplay look on the ROG Ally, and is the device compatible?
This article explains what performance you can expect from the ROG Ally running Diablo 4 and whether the device is compatible with ASUS’ handheld system.
Update on 14 June 2023: We've updated this article with the latest info on Diablo 4 running on the ROG Ally.
Diablo 4 ROG Ally Compatibility: Will it Run?
The ROG Ally uses Windows 11 as the Operating System (OS), which means it can, compared to the Steam Deck, easily launch the Battle.net app and, therefore, Diablo 4 as well.
Yes, Diablo 4 will run on the ASUS ROG Ally handheld without tweaking or installing various apps. It also meets the Diablo 4 system requirements (specs). Furthermore, due to the Xbox-centric layout of the ROG Ally’s buttons and Diablo 4 having great controller support, you should run into no issues playing the game on ASUS’ handheld.
ROG Ally Diablo 4 Performance/fps
There’s a big question mark surrounding how well the ROG Ally will run Diablo 4 and what frames-per-second (fps) numbers gamers can expect. At the time of writing, there have been almost no tests.
A report by DayFREURO, who played the Server Slam beta on a ROG Ally review version does suggest the game runs quite well when you limit the device to 45 fps, as it is unstable trying to reach 60 fps at 1080p.
The editor at HardwareLux, Andreas Schilling, provided some more details about Diablo 4’s performance on the ROG Ally, noting battery life as well.
The @ASUS_ROG#Ally running @Diablo IV in 1080p with medium details FSR 2 Quality just fine with 50 to 60 FPS, dropping to 40 FPS in demanding scenes. Ally in performance mode, consuming 30 W is giving you about one hour of battery life. pic.twitter.com/7ECbU9Cpf7
— Andreas Schilling 🇺🇦 (@aschilling) May 13, 2023
It remains to be seen if gamers can get a smooth 60fps on the ROG Ally playing Diablo 4. Maybe at 720p with low settings. It is, however, important to note that Blizzard can still optimize the game further from the Server Slam version to the launch version and that these were ROG Ally test kits provided by ASUS.
In case you missed it, check out the ROG Ally highlight video from ASUS Global below, and dream about slaying the followers of Lilith in Diablo 4 via this awesome handheld device.
So there you have it, the ASUS ROG Ally expected performance in Diablo 4 and details on compatibility. If anything changes, we will endeavor to update this article in a timely manner.