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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".

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elmapul Oct 22, 2021
Quoting: CFWhitman
Quoting: elmapulagain, that was an retraction from their first message.

The way I remember their first message was that one hundred percent Steam compatibility* was their eventual goal for the Steam Deck rather than a "promise" of the state of things when the Steam Deck first shipped. Of course they should have known how people tend to hear what they want to hear.

*(Of course this would be with the obvious caveat of the form factor not being appropriate for certain games such as VR titles.)

actually, it might have been "playable"
but their definion of playable is not the same as verified...
natis1 Oct 22, 2021
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Quoting: elmapul
Quoting: CFWhitman
Quoting: elmapulagain, that was an retraction from their first message.

The way I remember their first message was that one hundred percent Steam compatibility* was their eventual goal for the Steam Deck rather than a "promise" of the state of things when the Steam Deck first shipped. Of course they should have known how people tend to hear what they want to hear.

*(Of course this would be with the obvious caveat of the form factor not being appropriate for certain games such as VR titles.)

actually, it might have been "playable"
but their definion of playable is not the same as verified...

VR exclusive games are always marked unsupported on the deck even if they could run perfectly on Linux or even on the deck's hardware. This is said explicitly in the valve video.
elmapul Oct 22, 2021
Quoting: natis1
Quoting: elmapul
Quoting: CFWhitman
Quoting: elmapulagain, that was an retraction from their first message.

The way I remember their first message was that one hundred percent Steam compatibility* was their eventual goal for the Steam Deck rather than a "promise" of the state of things when the Steam Deck first shipped. Of course they should have known how people tend to hear what they want to hear.

*(Of course this would be with the obvious caveat of the form factor not being appropriate for certain games such as VR titles.)

actually, it might have been "playable"
but their definion of playable is not the same as verified...

VR exclusive games are always marked unsupported on the deck even if they could run perfectly on Linux or even on the deck's hardware. This is said explicitly in the valve video.

i'm not complaining about it, the issue is:
when they said their goal was everything will be playable at launch, i was expecting then to try to fix the remaining bugs.

the game works, but any game cutscene dont work , count as playable?
or the full screen dont work?
or the sound effects dont work?
Mohandevir Oct 29, 2021
Just happened to read something I haven't tought about... Could we witness the creation of a Steam Deck market place for game themed Micro SDXC cards sold with said game preinstalled on it? Might not be really ecologic, but it could be nice. The 64GB Steam Deck could greatly benefit from that.. The challenge would be to not lose them.

Just a tought.


Last edited by Mohandevir on 29 October 2021 at 7:03 pm UTC
Salvatos Oct 29, 2021
Well, we’ve already seen CDs sold in fake books, thumb drives as keychains, and flash drives in credit cards to make them easier to carry and find... I wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar being done for the Deck if it reaches a sufficiently large userbase, if only as a collector item or Kickstarter exclusive. Pretty hard to make an anything-themed microSDXC considering the form factor and the fact you won’t see it while it’s in use, but as a piece you take out of a bigger collector item, it could work.

I imagine the appeal would be bigger for heavy 100 GB+ games in places with slow/capped Internet, though in this day and age the files would already be outdated and require a patch by the time they reach consumers anyway. Besides that, it would just be a more expensive drive to store more games on. GameCube memory cards served a similar function but you could see their stickers while they were plugged in, and on some of them write down the games (saves) within.

I could imagine them being used to sell bundles of smaller Linux-native store-agnostic games, or with accompanying Steam keys, e.g. "20 kid-friendly games for you child’s Deck" or "the complete [insert franchise here] collection on the go", but just typing this makes it sound gimmicky as hell, like those cheap movies and games in cereal boxes back in the day.
Mohandevir Oct 30, 2021
Quoting: SalvatosWell, we’ve already seen CDs sold in fake books, thumb drives as keychains, and flash drives in credit cards to make them easier to carry and find... I wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar being done for the Deck if it reaches a sufficiently large userbase, if only as a collector item or Kickstarter exclusive. Pretty hard to make an anything-themed microSDXC considering the form factor and the fact you won’t see it while it’s in use, but as a piece you take out of a bigger collector item, it could work.

I imagine the appeal would be bigger for heavy 100 GB+ games in places with slow/capped Internet, though in this day and age the files would already be outdated and require a patch by the time they reach consumers anyway. Besides that, it would just be a more expensive drive to store more games on. GameCube memory cards served a similar function but you could see their stickers while they were plugged in, and on some of them write down the games (saves) within.

I could imagine them being used to sell bundles of smaller Linux-native store-agnostic games, or with accompanying Steam keys, e.g. "20 kid-friendly games for you child’s Deck" or "the complete [insert franchise here] collection on the go", but just typing this makes it sound gimmicky as hell, like those cheap movies and games in cereal boxes back in the day.

Probably.

In fact, it comes from a video I saw of someone who 3D printed a microsd card holder for his futur Steam Deck... It could hold 20 cards approx... It made me wonder how he could easily identify them if he's got, let's say, 10 cards... Tought about a game/brand logo on each cards...

Personnally, I'll get the 512gb model, so not really an issue for me, anyway.
Beamboom Nov 1, 2021
Quoting: GuestThe chosen terms are not very clear to me.
"Verified, Playable, Unsupported and Unknown"
Is "Playable" better or worse than "Verified"? What does "verified" even mean? It could mean it has been verified as not working.
"Unsupported", ok, but it doesn’t tell if it’s working or not.
"Unknown" is of course not helping much either.

I’m not asking for the answers, just saying they should choose terms that immediately make sense.

Aren't you a bit pedantic now? I thought it was pretty clear... Green checkmark -> Verified fully working. This is the status we want to see all around. "Playable" - how would a game be if you described it as playable? There's some issues but it's playable still, right?
"Unsupported" is unclear, I'll give you that. But "unknown" can't be more clear can it? The status is unknown to this curator, it's untested, not yet classified.
slaapliedje Nov 1, 2021
Quoting: Mohandevir
Quoting: SalvatosWell, we’ve already seen CDs sold in fake books, thumb drives as keychains, and flash drives in credit cards to make them easier to carry and find... I wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar being done for the Deck if it reaches a sufficiently large userbase, if only as a collector item or Kickstarter exclusive. Pretty hard to make an anything-themed microSDXC considering the form factor and the fact you won’t see it while it’s in use, but as a piece you take out of a bigger collector item, it could work.

I imagine the appeal would be bigger for heavy 100 GB+ games in places with slow/capped Internet, though in this day and age the files would already be outdated and require a patch by the time they reach consumers anyway. Besides that, it would just be a more expensive drive to store more games on. GameCube memory cards served a similar function but you could see their stickers while they were plugged in, and on some of them write down the games (saves) within.

I could imagine them being used to sell bundles of smaller Linux-native store-agnostic games, or with accompanying Steam keys, e.g. "20 kid-friendly games for you child’s Deck" or "the complete [insert franchise here] collection on the go", but just typing this makes it sound gimmicky as hell, like those cheap movies and games in cereal boxes back in the day.

Probably.

In fact, it comes from a video I saw of someone who 3D printed a microsd card holder for his futur Steam Deck... It could hold 20 cards approx... It made me wonder how he could easily identify them if he's got, let's say, 10 cards... Tought about a game/brand logo on each cards...

Personnally, I'll get the 512gb model, so not really an issue for me, anyway.
Ha, and here I am ordering a 2TB m.2 drive for my main system, as I keep running out of disk space with 1tb of SATA SSD.
Whitewolfe80 Nov 2, 2021
Quoting: KorsI'm counting on Steam Deck to skyrocket Linux usage, or at least to bring more games to linux based OS

maybe if it a big seller then developers such as microsoft sony & ubisoft may start making their games support proton but they wont target linux they will hopefully target the middleware that proton handles well.
wit_as_a_riddle Nov 8, 2021
Quoting: Mal
Quoting: randylThe only big drawback to the current base Xbox controller for Windows is that it uses AA batteries instead of a self-contained rechargeable.

Odd. That's the main reason why I don't like ds.

You mean you don't prefer a proprietary offer for something that already has a standardized solution? I for one don't want to be able to go to my nearest store to solve the most common problem in all of consumer electronics, I want to order a special product™. But even better would be if the battery is sealed inside the device, then all I need to do is throw the whole thing away and order a new one!

LOL seriously, I love that Valve used AA batteries in the Steam controller - I order a 20 pack of AA rechargeable every few years. Its just a fact of life that rechargeable batteries wear out over time, why would anyone want to use a proprietary power source instead of a standard one? Makes no sense.

I'm glad its been indicated that the power pack in the Deck should be replaceable, with a little effort.
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