Ah, the Steam Deck, Valve Software’s upcoming handheld PC is on the minds of millions of gamers. Mine’s included. Of course, there’s one small issue: the Steam Deck may not be able to play every game available on Steam. So what’s Valve to do? Well, they’ve taken it upon themselves to play through EVERY GAME that’s currently available on Steam. Which, to me, sounds like a daunting task.
So here’s how it’s going to go down. Valve plays through the game and then gives it a classification: verified, playable, Supported, and unknown.
- Verified games are provided with a green check, which means the game has passed all of Valve’s tests and has experienced zero issues when tested. These will work right out of the box and be installed via Steam.
- Playable games can still be played on the Steam Deck but may require some tweaking in order to get them to playable.
- Unsupported games are simply unsupported whatsoever. Sadly, this includes VR games such as Half-Life Alyx, though that would be cool. They won’t work, so don’t give it a try.
- Unknown games are just games that haven’t been tested as of yet. So, while a game may be certified as an unknown game, that will change as Valve moves through the massive game list on Steam.
This will also extend to the Steam Store on the Steam Deck, as it will only see games that have been verified for the system. According to Valve Store, they intend to release the compatibility for as many games as they can before the Steam Deck releases. Gien that there are thousands of games on Steam, and each game will receive in-depth testing; they’ll be busy up until the release.
To that, I want to say thank you, Valve Software, for doing this so that we don’t have to!
I’ve already placed an order for the 256GB variant, and I’m looking to take delivery sometime during Q1 2022. That is if it doesn’t get delayed. I’m looking forward to seeing how the pint-sized gaming PC tackles many of my favorite games. I can imagine it now; playing some Dark Souls or the upcoming Elden Ring while chilling in the backyard.
If you haven’t pre-ordered a Steam Deck yet, it may be a while until you’re able to receive one. New orders won’t be shipped until after Q2 2022 or later.
