Game developers looking to have their games certified for Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine should have a relatively easy time of it, as the demands are very similar to those of the Steam Deck, VideoCardz reports.
If a game is verified for the Steam Deck, it’s already Steam Machine-verified, Valve announced at GDC 2026. Performance still targets 30fps at 1080p, but with Steam Machine performance estimated at six times that of the Steam Deck, that shouldn’t be difficult for most developers.
(Credit: Valve)
Getting games verified for use on the Steam Deck was Valve’s big mission shortly after the portable system launched in 2022. Games needed to function with the platform’s unique controls, as well as offer playable frame rates and legible interfaces. In 2026, though, there are over 25,000 games that are either verified or considered playable on the handheld.
With the Steam Machine’s added power, creating games that run on what is much closer to a typical PC, without the battery and power limitations or thermal constraints, should be far easier.
Valve has streamlined the pipeline for its 10s of thousands of Steam Deck games. For titles that aren’t verified for the Steam Deck but want that status on the Steam Machine, Valve won’t check UI legibility or guarantee performance at any resolutions outside 1080p. Given that games can be played on a variety of displays with different sizes and resolutions, verifying anything beyond the bare minimum would be costly and far too time-consuming.
(Credit: Valve)
As for the Steam Frame, the other Valve hardware launching later this year, verification is a bit stricter. Designed for standalone play only, verification requires the game to run at 90fps in VR mode or 30fps at 720p in 2D mode. The UI must be legible, too, considering it will be placed right up against the wearer’s eyeballs.
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Unlike the Steam Machine, Steam Deck Verified games will need to be tested on the Steam Frame before they can be verified there. Games that aren’t supported by the Steam Deck because of performance or SteamOS compatibility issues will be automatically categorized as unsupported on the Steam Frame.
We don’t have release dates or final pricing for the Frame or Machine just yet, but Valve insists they’ll both launch this year despite delays due to the memory shortage.
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Jon Martindale is a tech journalist from the UK, with 20 years of experience covering all manner of PC components and associated gadgets. He’s written for a range of publications, including ExtremeTech, Digital Trends, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and Lifewire, among others. When not writing, he’s a big board gamer and reader, with a particular habit of speed-reading through long manga sagas.
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