There are over 50,000 games on Steam, and as much time as it has for testing, Valve has no idea which of them work well on its new Steam Deck handheld gaming system, and which ones don't. To that end, it's hoping to leverage the power of its expansive community to find out. Valve has begun hiring compatibility testers for its Steam Deck and is forming a dedicated team to get a rating on as many games as possible.
The plan, as it stands, is to apply a range of ratings to each Steam game to give potential Steam Deck game buyers a good idea of just how well the game will run on the new system. "Verified" games will have been somewhat designed with the Steam Deck in mind, and will offer bespoke support for Steam Deck controls, as well as support fo its native resolution, and a pre-ordained range of settings that enables good frame rates when the game first launches.
Games that don't do that, but are otherwise playable on the Steam Deck if users tweak the settings, or don't mind putting up with a few hiccups, will be given a "Playable" rating. In time, those games may also be given additional details that will be displayed on the Steam page to help Steam Deck players make the most of that game, even if it isn't designed with the portable system in mind.
"Unsupported" will be the label given to games that don't meet the specifications for a Steam Deck experience that is enjoyable or even playable at all, while "Unknown," will be the tag given to games that have been as-yet untested.
What are some games that you'd love to play on Steam Deck?