Buying a game for the Steam Deck has always involved a little guesswork. To make the process easier, Valve’s Verified badge tells you whether a title should work on the handheld, but it doesn’t specifically mention how smooth the experience will be. This means that a game might technically be compatible and still struggle to maintain a decent frame rate.
Thankfully, Valve has finally introduced a feature that could make those purchasing decisions considerably easier. Starting November 10, Steam Deck owners can check the average frames per second (FPS) a game delivers directly from its Steam Store page, using real-world performance data collected from other players.
According to Valve’s official announcement, the feature already covers thousands of games, with more titles expected to receive performance data over time.
The Verified badge has some numbers to back it up
The new performance information appears under Steam Deck Compatibility > Learn more on a game’s Steam Store page. It’s available for titles that have undergone compatibility testing, including those marked Verified, Playable, and Unsupported. Instead of relying on Valve’s internal benchmarks, the system collects anonymized frame-rate data from Steam Deck owners who have opted into sharing their performance statistics.
Steam also adds an expandable histogram showing how frequently a game runs at different frame rates. This is useful because an average of 40 FPS, for example, doesn’t necessarily mean a game consistently runs at that speed. Frequent drops and stutters can make the actual experience worse.
Valve acknowledges that its existing verification system doesn’t always reflect everyone’s expectations. Some Unsupported games might run well enough for certain players, while others carrying the Verified badge could struggle to meet their preferred performance targets.
It’s not perfect, but the future looks promising
Valve only includes data from Steam Decks operating at their default frame limits, which are 60 FPS for the LCD model and 90 FPS for the OLED version. The company also doesn’t account for individual graphics settings, meaning the figures reflect a range of configurations rather than standardized benchmark results. Games need sufficient player data before their statistics become available.
The information is accessible through Steam Store pages, while the Steam Library integration is limited to users running the Steam Client Beta. Valve also plans to expand the feature beyond the Steam Deck. It’s already inviting desktop Steam beta users to contribute anonymized performance data, which could lay the groundwork for similar insights across a much wider range of gaming hardware.
It’s a welcome improvement, especially as modern games become increasingly demanding. Knowing what kind of performance to expect before handing over your money makes the Steam Deck’s enormous game library less intimidating.
