Steam introduces the Deck Verified system, which will help players know if a game title can be played on the Steam Deck.

In an ideal world, anyone would be able to play PC games on the go. Any PC game worth their salt would work on the handheld PC that Valve is producing – the Steam Deck. But we do not live in an ideal society. Thankfully, Valve is taking proactive steps to make sure that fans would know if a game is optimized for the Steam Deck, helping set expectations for titles players will plan to take with them on the go.

Valve released a primer and launched a web page to help players get a better grasp of what Deck Verified is. In short, Valve will review all games on Steam and categorize them into three:

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  • Deck Verified – works great on the Steam Deck, right off the box
  • Playable – may require extra work by the user to play (e.g., using the touchscreen for button inputs)
  • Unsupported – may not be a good experience for the Steam Deck (but will otherwise still be launchable)
  • Unknown – pending review by Valve

This system is a very welcome, pro-consumer initiative by Valve. It won't prevent unsupported games from launching on the Steam Deck, so players can still attempt of their own volition.