We've been wondering what Valve had planned to show off Steam Deck compatibility for games and now they've launched Deck Verified as their answer.
Valve say they are reviewing the entire Steam catalogue on the Steam Deck, with each of them gaining a category that it falls under that will show up across Steam from the store to your own Steam Library. The ratings will be split across Verified, Playable, Unsupported and Unknown. This is good because there's a lot of reasons why games will mix between perfect and unplayable on Steam Deck and the Arch Linux-based SteamOS it ships with.
To be actually Verified the games need to hit these four points:
- Input - The title should have full controller support, use appropriate controller input icons, and automatically bring up the on-screen keyboard when needed.
- Display - The game should support the default resolution of Steam Deck (1280x800 or 1280x720), have good default settings, and text should be legible.
- Seamlessness - The title shouldn’t display any compatibility warnings, and if there’s a launcher it should be navigable with a controller.
- System Support - If running through Proton, the game and all its middleware should be supported by Proton. This includes anti-cheat support.
When you're playing on a Steam Deck, the first tab in the Steam store will also only highlight games that are "great" on the Steam Deck too.
Check out their video explainer below:
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Want to see what their plan is? You can check it out on Deck Verified.
Valve also put up a Steam Deck Compatibility Review Process guide, which goes over the steps required for developers to take a look at. It gives an interesting insight into exactly what Valve and developers will be doing. Developers however will not be able to remove their game from being listed as Valve say the Deck is "an extension of Steam onto a new portable PC form factor, and so customers both expect and have access to the same store and library that they would on any other PC".
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Quoting: CFWhitman*(I know it would apply to anything that ran Steam OS and generally to Linux, but that wouldn't matter to the general public at first.)They're related but separate things. Obviously if a game can't be made to run on Linux, it won't run on the Deck and so won't get the tick, but there are going to be plenty of games that do run on Linux but are bad without KB/M, or are unreadable on a tiny screen, or whatever, and also won't get the tick. But Valve (and hopefully developers) are going to want games to have the runs on Linux part of the "Playable" popup sorted: on Valve's side because games working on Linux is their strategic goal, and on the developer's side in case a customer docks their Deck.
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Quoting: EikeNo.The "promised" part in this case is the "Deck verified" part, which is why this information must be accessible (public, not opt-in)
What hasn't been promised doesn't have to work.
The only "promised" part by Valve that is implied is "you can play steam games on it", anything else is technical detail and can be used as a legal argument if the information is not easily displayed for the consumer.
Have you wonder why some products have some stupid advises in the product label, like a bottle of bleach with the warning "do not drink it" for example? Because all of this can be used as a argument in the legal court in case of problems. Just some details of the legal system that may vary worldwide
Spoiler, click me
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Quoting: CatKillerThey're related but separate things. Obviously if a game can't be made to run on Linux, it won't run on the Deck and so won't get the tick, but there are going to be plenty of games that do run on Linux but are bad without KB/M, or are unreadable on a tiny screen, or whatever, and also won't get the tick. But Valve (and hopefully developers) are going to want games to have the runs on Linux part of the "Playable" popup sorted: on Valve's side because games working on Linux is their strategic goal, and on the developer's side in case a customer docks their Deck.
Yes, exactly. I didn't mean to imply that the Steam Deck compatibility status would apply completely to desktop Linux, or even set top box Steam OS devices.
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Quoting: CFWhitmanThis is not really a proper evaluation of the "Opt-in" situation. If the majority of users don't activate it, it (at least in theory) will be because the majority of users don't care whether it works on the Steam Deck or not.You don't have to opt-in in order to buy the device, so "motivation" doesn't really matter in this case.
Quoting: CFWhitmanAs long as Valve makes it clear enough (by opt-in or another method) that the evaluation is in regards to the Steam Deck and the Steam Deck alone*Make it clear means easily display this information to general public
Quoting: CFWhitmanit shouldn't be a problem, and calling it a 'mark of shame' would be a fairly substantial exaggeration."The mark of shame" is just a term we're using here to simplify (while I vote to make it official
), but it could be considered bad PR as I described on my early post.
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Quoting: BielFPsYou don't have to opt-in in order to buy the device, so "motivation" doesn't really matter in this case.
Well, that's why I said, "at least in theory."
Quoting: BielFPsMake it clear means easily display this information to general public
True enough, and that is the trick. Valve have to be able to make it clear what currently works well on the Steam Deck without it seeming to mean anything more than that about the game. An Opt-in program may or may not be the best way to accomplish that. I suspect that how well this goes will depend to a large degree on just how quickly they can make the vast majority of games work on the Steam Deck. This is something they've been working on behind the scenes for a while. I expect we'll have to wait and see how it goes.
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Quoting: BielFPsQuoting: CFWhitmanThis is not really a proper evaluation of the "Opt-in" situation. If the majority of users don't activate it, it (at least in theory) will be because the majority of users don't care whether it works on the Steam Deck or not.You don't have to opt-in in order to buy the device, so "motivation" doesn't really matter in this case.
As far as I know you have to have a Steam account to order, right?
Steam could infer that you want to know about Steam Deck compatibility, and/or show the information about all games in your library during that process, ...
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Quoting: CatKillerOn Windows the schema is RB/RT and LB/LT (button/trigger) when I play games through Xbox GamePass. Maybe bumper is a legacy naming convention but that isn't how it's presented to the user in a game or how users talk about the hardware. Then there is LS/RS (left and right stick), the Plus Pad or D-Pad, and the A, X, Y, B buttons. Naming conventions may seem odd if they aren't used, but terminology becomes familiar quickly.Quoting: damarrinFor some reason, Valve decided to take these from Playstation and they’re L1,R2 and so on.
The Xbox names are stupid (WTF is a "bumper?"), but it's mostly because there are five of those buttons on each side. You wouldn't want "right bumper," "right other bumper," "right other other bumper," and so on.
Quoting: 3zekielAnd considering the outcry every time a game dev removes the ps button when they port to PC, I doubt I am the only one who prefers dualshock. I also don't think x360 is all that popular ? Maybe in US, but worldwide I highly doubt it. Maybe it had some extra usage due to being easier to setup at some point, but I don't think it was out of love.
PlayStation controller support on Windows has historically been quite bad, and Microsoft did a big push for the Xbox controller being a "Windows standard," so developers that think PC = Windows also tend to think that PC controller = Xbox.
Sony hasn't historically provided very good DS4 support on Windows. They use a proprietary wireless technology so a dongle is required to connect that way. However, for several years now Sony has supported DS4 via Bluetooth, but some proprietary features don't work as they do natively on PS consoles, USB wired, or with a USB dongle. When I used a DS4 on Windows I usually played with it wired to get full functionality.
When Microsoft made their base controller work on Windows through Bluetooth I started using it. It's a decent controller for cheap. The only big drawback to the current base Xbox controller for Windows is that it uses AA batteries instead of a self-contained rechargeable.
On Steam it isn't too hard to figure out the button configuration for a game. The A,X,Y,B buttons are typically color coded so it makes learning the layout easy. I play games on GamePass that originally released for PlayStation and using the controller isn't confusing at all.
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Quoting: CFWhitmanTrue enough, and that is the trick. Valve have to be able to make it clear what currently works well on the Steam Deck without it seeming to mean anything more than that about the game. An Opt-in program may or may not be the best way to accomplish that.
A way Valve can make it work is to put a warning on the label of steam deck saying something like:
"Dear costumer, please access https://store.steampowered.com to check which games are compatible with this device"
And make this information available to all the visitors (even the ones without a steam account for example). This would make Valve get rid of the responsibility for people being misleading like this case for example, but could give the idea for other people that something is "broken" for some games, like I've said here
Possibly leading to this situation which won't be possible as Catkiller already informed and that could result in a backlash from some developers as I also said here
Summing up my point: Opt-in this information could be bad for Valve, and the opposite could be bad for some developers
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Quoting: EikeAs far as I know you have to have a Steam account to order, right?For now, but they'll have to rely on third party distribution if they're planning to sell worldwide.
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Quoting: MohandevirThat's true for Linux users as well. A native game may or may not work on a given distro which is why Valve offers SLR (the Ubuntu container) because what Linux compat often means is just Ubuntu support. Proton doesn't work consistently either as you point out. You needed to install a Glorious Eggroll compile of Proton to make things work as intended. Gaming has always been like this since the days of DOS, Amiga, and OS2 before Windows and Linux.Quoting: randylBatman_Arkham_Asylum_Game_of_the_Year_Edition/) works on Windows 11. I just tested it.
But it proves how random things are, even on Windows. The issue my son got, with this games, is largely documented on support sites... He is not alone. On my end, just turning on ProtonGE makes the game run. We have same spec computers (except for the GPU, both Nvidia though).
You said, someone should test whether these things work on Win10/11 and then submitted a game you said doesn't work on Windows. I tested it, since someone curious asked, and it works for me. You know, like when you can't compile an app at work and the author shrugs and says, "It works on my machine."
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