FinalFactorio was right there when Valve first showed off the Steam Deck, and it was intricate and worthy of being in the top 100 games. That’s reasonable: Factorio offers a native Linux build, and the Steam Deck runs Linux. Then there’s no use in fiddling around; it works fine, and the modest graphical requirements imply it should last a long time on a single charge. However, everyone who has played Factorio knows that it is a hotkey-heavy, mouse-heavy game that requires a lot of clicking and precise mouse handling. To have it run smoothly on a Steam Deck, you’d have to do a lot of remapping and profile development. Wube Software developers are aware of the issue, and in a recent dev blog post, they detailed some of the work they’ve been doing to get Factorio up and running with controllers.
“We’re working with adding true controller compatibility to Factorio, which will help both the Steam Deck and those who prefer to play the game with a controller more casually. Work on the expansion is still the team’s main priority, and controller support is difficult to work, so if Factorio gets it, expect it later this year “
Wube stated. It’s understandable that any controller development will be put on hold in order to focus on the massive expansion set that would double the size of Factorio, but I’d want to play that expansion on a Steam Deck if possible. Wube is now working on a few other minor adjustments, such as UI tweaks to improve size on the smaller Steam Deck screen.