Steam Machine ratings leave many demanding games untested
Valve’s new compatibility labels are appearing on Steam, but Ars Technica found many SteamOS-ready games still lack Steam Machine verdicts.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
Valve’s new Steam Machine compatibility labels have begun showing up on Steam store pages, but Ars Technica reports that many demanding games still have no clear verdict for the new hardware. The gap matters for buyers who want to know whether games too heavy for the Steam Deck will run well on Valve’s living-room PC.
Valve announced about a month ago that it would extend its Steam Deck Verified program to the Steam Machine, creating a separate rating for compatibility and playability on the new SteamOS device. Ars Technica said the new ratings appeared under a “Learn More” link near Steam Deck Compatibility on Steam store pages.
The easy cases appear straightforward, according to Ars Technica. Games already marked Verified for Steam Deck also appear to qualify for Steam Machine, while games known not to work with SteamOS are not expected to run on the SteamOS-based Steam Machine.
The unresolved category is made up of games that Valve says can launch on SteamOS but do not meet Steam Deck performance standards. Valve’s Steam Deck criteria require games to run at 1200×800 and 30 frames per second at default settings, according to Valve documentation cited by Ars Technica. For Steam Machine, Ars Technica said the benchmark rises to 1080p and 30 frames per second.
On Steam Deck, these titles can be marked Unsupported because Valve says their graphics settings cannot be set to run well on the handheld, or because they need manual graphics changes to perform properly. Ars Technica said every game it found in that category currently showed an Unknown Steam Machine compatibility status.
For those games, Valve’s store pages say the company is “still learning about” compatibility and does not yet have more information on how the titles work on Steam Machine, according to Ars Technica. A Valve representative was not immediately available to comment to Ars Technica.
Some Deck warnings do not carry over
Ars Technica found one clear benefit from the new rating system: games downgraded on Steam Deck because text is too small can move up to Verified on Steam Machine when played on a TV. The publication cited 007: First Light and Lies of P as examples of Steam Deck Playable games that receive Steam Machine Verified status.
Other warnings remain. Games that require an on-screen keyboard on Steam Deck still get a similar notice on Steam Machine, Ars Technica reported, meaning players may want access to a wireless keyboard from the couch.
Games still awaiting Steam Machine answers
Ars Technica identified a partial list of SteamOS-compatible games that are Unsupported on Steam Deck for graphics-related reasons and Unknown for Steam Machine compatibility. The list includes:
- Abiotic Factor
- Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
- Black Myth Wukong
- Dead Space (2023)
- Dragon’s Dogma 2
- Elden Ring Nightreign
- Enshrouded
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Forspoken
- Hell is Us
- Horizon: Forbidden West
- Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
- Metro Exodus
- Ninja Gaiden 2: Black
- Nioh 3
- Resident Evil Requiem
- Returnal
- Rise of the Ronin
- Stalker 2
- Starfield
- The Quarry
- Until Dawn
The result is a verification system that answers many basic compatibility questions while leaving a key performance question open. For now, Ars Technica reports, Steam Machine owners may not get a simple up-or-down label for a group of high-profile games that Steam Deck cannot comfortably handle.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.