Valve is reviewing Steam’s whole library for Steam Deck compatibility
A gargantuan task.
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Ahead of Steam Deck’s launch in December, Valve is reviewing “the entire Steam catalog” to check each game’s compatibility with the handheld. That presumably meanseverything, from stuff likePoop Plague in Fairylandthrough to Cyberpunk 2077. Each game will be categorised based on its compatibility, ranging ‘Verified’, ‘Playable’, ‘Unsupported’ and ‘Unknown’. Icons for each category will display on the game’s listing.
Those categories are pretty self-explanatory:
Navigating to a game’s store page will provide a more thorough breakdown of why a game may be deemed just ‘Playable’ rather than ‘Verified’, or why it won’t work. For Team Fortress 2, for example, the store warns that it has “missing or inaccurate controller glyphs” and that you’ll need to use the virtual keyboard for some features. If you can cope with those things, you can still play the game.
The Steam Store on Deck will prioritise Verified games by defaulting to a “Great on Deck” tab. To search the whole store, you’ll just need to navigate to the full store home tab.
Valve’s review processis ongoing, and it’ll keep going post-launch. It seems like a truly gargantuan operation given how massive Steam’s library is, and given that Valve has promised to re-review games after updates. Before launch, Valve intends to roll out a way to check your library’s compatibility ahead of the handheld’s availability.
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Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.
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