Steam Machine verification will have "fewer constraints" than Steam Deck - but text sizing worries me

It seems it will be easier to be Steam Machine Verified when compared with Steam Deck Verified, according to a Valve designer speaking with Game Developer.

They spoke with designer Lawrence Yang who said there will be "fewer constraints" noting that if you're already Steam Deck Verified it will be Steam Machine Verified. That was pretty much obvious though don't you think? Valve already do something similar with SteamOS Compatible ratings, they just stick it straight on for other SteamOS machines if a game is Steam Deck Verified.

My hope is that text sizing will once again come into focus for game developers. It's often a big problem on the Steam Deck's smaller screen and resolution, with so many developers only seemingly testing their games on rather big monitors. In some games, the text is even too small on my own big PC monitor when right in front of it. Accessibility should not be such an afterthought. Now think about this issue when you're sitting across the living room on your nice sofa, this could be quite the pain point with lots of games having no text scaling options. You're going to need some binoculars at the ready.

I'm hoping by "fewer constraints" that Yang really just means Valve will be auto-approving if it's Steam Deck Verified. Because if we look at the current Steam Deck Verified requirements, there's not much to relax there:

• 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.

Display I imagine is the only one that would actually be relaxed, since we're talking about all sorts of resolutions since the Steam Machine is just a mini PC with SteamOS Linux on it. Input, Seamlessness and System Support cannot be relaxed in any way or the whole system would be a bit pointless.

Going by the current list (SteamDB) as of publishing time, that would mean at least 7,460 titles would be Steam Machine Verified.

It's going to be interesting to see when we can finally get our hands on one. Hopefully Valve will supply GamingOnLinux with review units for ongoing coverage like with the Steam Deck LCD and Steam Deck OLED.