PS5 Bazzite Deck Turns Jailbroken PS5 Into a Steam Machine

PlayStation 5 can now run PC games through a community project that brings the Steam Deck interface to compatible consoles. Called PS5 Bazzite Deck, the project adapts a gaming-focused Linux operating system for the PS5, letting users access Steam gaming mode and run supported PC games directly on the console.

The project is called PS5 Bazzite Deck. It's a community adaptation of Bazzite, a gaming-focused Linux operating system with Steam gaming mode that provides a familiar, controller-friendly interface. This isn't an official Sony feature, and you need a compatible jailbroken PS5 and a Linux loader to get started.

PS5 Bazzite Deck Brings Steam Gaming Mode to the Console

What interests us most is accessing a Steam library on hardware that's already sitting under the TV. Even if you already own a Steam machine, being able to play games you've purchased on Steam directly on your PS5 would be useful. You would still need those games to work properly under Linux, but having that option gives the console another use.

The firmware requirement is where things become complicated. The Bazzite project says it has been tested on firmware 13.60. However, the loader only supports specific firmware versions, and its documentation explicitly excludes firmware 14.0 and newer. That means PS5 consoles running firmware 14.1 are outside the supported range. We haven't installed the project on an unsupported console, so we don't have any personal performance results to share yet.

If a jailbreak becomes available for firmware 14.1, we would certainly be interested in trying it. There is currently no way to roll back the firmware, and the loader's instructions also state that downgrading isn't supported. However, for anyone with a compatible console, the project offers another way to use the hardware.

The project runs from external storage, and according to its documentation, you can restart the console and return to the normal PlayStation system. To use Linux again, you simply run the loader. We would be interested in seeing how convenient this process feels after the initial novelty wears off.

Gaming Performance and 4K Output Still Need More Testing

The display numbers also need some attention. A 4K output mode doesn't tell us what resolution a game is actually rendering at or whether it can maintain 60fps. We should wait for longer gaming sessions with the settings visible before concluding performance. However, based on other users' installations, gaming sessions appear to be running without major problems.

There is also progress on PS5 Pro support. Version 1.84 claims initial support for the PS5 Pro, and the project's README now reflects this addition. It still needs more testing before we can consider the support dependable. The release documentation also mentions issues like freezes when entering gaming mode and high power consumption during sleep.

For now, PS5 Bazzite Deck is mainly an enthusiast project, but we like where it's going. Being able to use a console we already own to play PC games gives us more reasons to keep using it. Not every experiment needs to be ready for everyone before we can appreciate the work behind it. However, firmware compatibility remains a limitation, and we would like to see the installation process become easier over time.