Valve Steam Deck Compatibility Program verifies games that run well on the portable PC

Don't fret about Steam Deck compatibility — Valve has you lot covered

An image of the Valve Steam Deck on a blue background

(Image credit: Valve)

The ongoing question around the Valve Steam Deck is only how many games it'll actually run. What beginning appeared to be a device that could run all of the Steam library is actually but compatible with some xvi,000 games; more than enough for nearly, but not perfect.

Just to brand it easier to come across which games volition run on the Steam Deck when it arrives in December, Valve has revealed the Steam Deck Compatibility program, which will characterization games in Steam that'll perform well on the handheld PC-meets-console.

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The Steam Deck Compatibility program will put games in four dissimilar categories. "Verified" is for any games that piece of work "corking on Steam Deck, right out of the box," while "Playable" is for games that may require some manual tweaking by the actor. "Unsupported" is, unsurprisingly, for games that won't work on the Steam Deck. And "Unknown" is for games that Valve has yet to check for Steam Deck compatibility.

For the Verified tag, games will need to accept full controller support, work at the Steam Deck's resolutions of 1280 ten 800 or 1280 ten 720 at default settings, offering no compatibility alarm, and fully support Proton if it'southward running on the platform.

Equally such, when you visit the Steam Store on the Steam Deck you'll exist able to see a tab titled "Bully on Deck" that flags all the verified Steam games so far. This tab has not been added to the desktop version of Steam, which means y'all won't get a preview in that app for which games volition run on the Steam Deck, if you lot've still to decide on whether you want to buy the console or non.

In brusque, this new programme should provide an easy style for people to come across what games volition run on the Steam Deck and make a determination on whether they wish to play on the console or on a gaming PC. And Valve appears to be going deep into offer extra information around the Steam Deck, from a video of it being torn down to quick tips for developers on how they tin can get their game verified for the Steam Deck.

We've nonetheless to attempt out the Steam Deck, but with each bit of new information from Valve, the hybrid console-meets-PC becomes more interesting.

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Roland Moore-Colyer is U.K. Editor at Tom's Guide with a focus on news, features and opinion articles. He often writes most gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he's also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk Roland can exist found wandering around London, frequently with a wait of marvel on his face.