Steam Deck has been designed to run all available games on its digital marketplace just as on PC. There will however always be a few compatibility concerns and which is why publisher Valve has come up with a nifty solution.
Valve has begun using a new program called Deck Verified to review the tens of thousands of games currently available on its marketplace. The program has been give the sole task of confirming if a game is compatible with Steam Deck or not by cross-referencing the said game against four pre-determined metrics: controller input, display resolution and text legibility, portable seamlessness, anti-cheat and other related system support for Proton.
Once the reviewal process has finished, Deck Verified will assign the game to one of four categories: Verified, which means the game is fully compatible; Playable, which means the game may require a few tweaking; Unsupported, pretty self explanatory; and Unknown, which means the game is yet to be reviewed.
Each category has its own mark and which will show up for games on the Steam Store and library interfaces. Hence, for example, a Verified game will receive a green checkmark which will show up on both of the PC and Steam Deck interfaces by default. Valve wants players to immediately know off the bat which games are fully compatible before purchasing.
“You’ll be able to see Steam Deck compatibility details for every title that has been reviewed, giving you the information you need to inform your playing and purchasing decisions,” says Valve.
Steam Deck is a handheld console but which can be treated as a portable PC as well. The device can play games, including modern-day triple-a games, from a Steam library, but can also do so much more. Users can install Windows for example as well as other software and applications and clients, even the Epic Games Store.
Valve should be done reviewing its entire catalog of games before Steam Deck launches around the coming 2021 holiday season.
