Careful — this popular new game is corrupting Steam Decks

The Steam Deck is easily the best handheld gaming PC you can buy, but a new game, which launched with native Linux support for the Steam Deck, is corrupting some devices. The Jackbox Megapicker, a free launcher for Jackbox party games, is corrupting the installation on SteamOS on the Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED, as confirmed by both the developers and Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais.

GamingOnLinux first reported the story, following user reports of corrupted installations on Reddit and Discord a few days ago. After installing the game, the Steam Deck would refuse to load. It doesn’t completely ruin the device, but if you install The Jackbox Megapicker, you’ll be forced to reinstall SteamOS from scratch. That includes creating your own recovery media with Valve’s SteamOS image and completely wiping all data from the device.

A hotfix has been issued to select Proton by default for the Jackbox Megapicker until the issues with corrupting the Steam installation are addressed. To avoid issues, don't override the compatibility selection to the Linux Runtime.

— Pierre-Loup Griffais (@Plagman2) July 31, 2024

The developers say to avoid installing the game on the Steam Deck for the time being. “Unfortunately at this time, we’ve seen a handful of reports come in regarding issues with the Megapicker on Steam Decks… it is our current recommendation that Steam Deck users refrain from downloading The Jackbox Megapicker until further notice,” the developers wrote in a Steam forum post on Tuesday.

Valve’s hotfix for the issue forces the game to run through the Proton compatibility layer, bypassing the native Linux version that seems to be the source of the issue. Even with the hotfix, it’s best to avoid installing The Jackbox Megapicker on the Steam Deck until the developers have issued an update.

The Jackbox Megapicker just launched on Monday, and there’s currently a sale on all Jackbox titles on Steam to celebrate its release. This is just a launcher, and the games themselves aren’t causing issues with the Steam Deck. It’s not hard to see why you’d want to use a launcher if you have multiple Jackbox titles, though — there are 10 different collections available, as well as several standalone party games.

It’s fair to ask how a launcher like this could corrupt the SteamOS install in the first place, and that’s exactly what users are asking. It’s concerning that a single game could completely corrupt the Steam Deck. We haven’t seen anything like this before.

Given that Valve is aware of the issue, hopefully it’s looking into what’s causing the issues on the Steam Deck and addressing anything within SteamOS that’s opening the door for software to impact the operating system in such a big way. If you happened to install The Jackbox Megapicker and your Steam Deck is acting up, the developers recommend reaching out to the Jackbox support team.