Steam Deck HQ reports SafeHouse utility eases Sly Cooper PC ports on Steam Deck

Steam Deck HQ reported Nov. 10, 2026 that FridiNaTor1 created SafeHouse, a launcher for PC ports and recompilations of the Sly Cooper franchise on the Steam Deck handheld.

Steam Deck HQ said SafeHouse can install and play all Sly Cooper games in the franchise. The article states SafeHouse will be able to install and play all games in the franchise even though current support is limited to the first two entries. Current support covers Sly 1 and Sly 2, while Sly 3 is being worked on and two other series games are planned but not yet ready. The piece presents SafeHouse as a way to replay a cult classic PS2-era franchise developed by Sucker Punch, the studio behind Infamous and Ghost of Tsushima.

Steam Deck HQ likened SafeHouse to OpenGOAL. OpenGOAL is a separate project that released a launcher so people can play native PC versions of the Jak and Daxter games.

Steam Deck HQ said both playable games run at 60 FPS on Steam Deck with battery drain under 11W, and Sly 1 stays below 9W. These performance and battery figures come from the author’s time playing on the Steam Deck, with a caveat that drain could vary later in the games. The author observed no hitches or spikes in performance during the current play session, though performance might change later in the games. The outlet ties the clean-run observation to that session and does not rule out future issues.

Steam Deck HQ said installation requires placing the newest SafeHouse .AppImage in the same folder as legally dumped game copies, then installing each game directly through the launcher. Legally dumped copies are required before the launcher can copy the files. The writer describes installation as relatively easy and quick. The launcher copies files so users can remove game dumps from the Steam Deck to conserve space, freeing up storage after installation.

Steam Deck HQ said SafeHouse lacks gamepad navigation, so users must press play with their finger on the Steam Deck touchscreen. The outlet flagged the touchscreen requirement as a limitation even though the rest of setup is straightforward. Users may add the SafeHouse .AppImage to Steam as a non-Steam game or add each title to Steam on its own, giving handheld owners alternatives for launching from within Steam’s interface. A .AppImage is a Linux application package format.

Users must manually set Window Type to Fullscreen, Aspect Ratio to 16:10, and resolution to Native or 1280×800, so the games fit the screen without stretching. Steam Deck HQ said the recompilations support aspect ratio and resolution changes but do not apply them automatically. The author made these manual display changes before playing.

The author set MSAA anti-aliasing, a graphics setting that smooths jagged object edges, to 8X. The choice smooths object edges without affecting battery drain and was one of the adjustments the author made before starting the games on the Steam Deck.

Steam Deck HQ found no indications SafeHouse was developed with AI. The project logged 10 releases over 4 days and 43 commits over 8 days on GitHub. The writer reviewed the GitHub project and developers. The outlet called that a pattern it could not confirm as AI-related, presenting the release and commit numbers as an observation rather than a confirmed finding about AI use.

Steam Deck HQ’s author believes SafeHouse offers the best modern PC experience for these classic games. The author says the PC ports offer more support than emulation can provide, explaining that emulation lacks the support available through these native PC ports. The author contrasts SafeHouse with loving emulation while finding the ports more supportive. The view comes after testing SafeHouse on Steam Deck.