A rather strange Steam Deck bug has appeared in Elden Ring ahead of the new Shadow the Erdtree DLC launch. If you leave the game idle for more than five minutes, all inputs may suddenly fail to register, and only a full game reboot will fix the problem. From Software is aware of the bug and is working on a fix.
Ahead of the Shadow of the Erdtree release date, the original game of Elden Ring is still one of the most popular games on the Steam Deck, which itself is one of the best handheld gaming PCs. Gamers are still in awe that the massive open world runs so well on Valve’s portable, but it’s not unusual for bugs like this to rear their ugly heads from time to time.
This idle bug on the Steam Deck version of Elden Ring only appeared following the 1.12 game update. No Deck-specific changes are made in this patch, but this new one has apparently appeared as a result of the many bug fixes that have been implemented.
This bug isn’t guaranteed to impact everyone either, with the official announcement stating that “leaving your Steam Deck inactive for more than five minutes may stop the game from accepting inputs.”
It’s not clear whether this problem happens during gameplay, or also in the menus, but to be safe it’s worth giving your thumbstick a jiggle every so often if you’re having to step away from your Steam Deck for any reason.
The Elden Ring X account says that the team is working on a hotfix now, which could possibly be deployed via the Proton hotfix compatibility tool, or via a small game update. No timeline has been placed on the release for the fix, but you can follow the Elden Ring X account to find out when it’s ready.
For more of the best Steam Deck games, check out our hand-picked list where every game is tested on Valve’s handheld for your peace of mind.