Cronos: The New Dawn Native Steam Deck Build Delivers Significant Performance Improvement

Francesco De Meo
Cronos: The New Dawn cover features an astronaut with helmet ND-3576 and a dark tower in the background.
The Cronos: The New Dawn native Steam Deck build delivers significantly better performance

Cronos: The New Dawn recently released native Steam Deck build delivers significant performance improvements over the original Proton Windows build, according to a new comparison video.

As showcased in a new comparison video shared on YouTube by Deck Wizard, the new build of the survival-horror game developed by Bloober Team runs much better than the original Proton Windows build in nearly every comparison.

Related Story Cronos: The New Dawn DLC, Cronos: Lazarus, Arrives Fall 2026, Adds New Story Chapter and More Aggressive, Fast-Paced Combat

While hitting a steady 60 FPS is something the Steam Deck obviously can't do, even with a native build, the performance improvement it brings makes the game often run above 30 FPS, even in demanding areas like the Apartment Complex, where the system struggles to even hit 30 FPS with the Proton Windows build.

While any game benefits greatly from a 60 frames per second framerate and higher, with its slower-paced survival-horror experience, Cronos: The New Dawn is more than enjoyable even at 30 FPS, as it relies mostly on atmosphere to deliver one of the finest games released by Bloober Team. You can learn more about it by checking out my review.

The release of native Steam Deck builds is a relatively recent happening, but one that is extremely welcome to extend the life of the system which essentially started the PC handheld craze of the past couple of years. Besides the Cronos: The New Dawn build, a Baldur's Gate 3 native Steam Deck build is also now available for download, introducing performance improvements in the city of Baldur's Gate in Act 3, one of the most demanding areas in the game.

Francesco De Meo Photo

About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.

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