Featured Image Credit: Valve
Topics: Steam Machine, Valve, Steam Deck, Tech, PC, Steam
Steam Machine developer Valve has teased that games will have fewer constraints to get the Verified badge on the upcoming console compared to the Steam Deck.
Revealed last November, the Steam Machine is essentially Valve’s middle ground between the usability of PCs and the convenience of console gaming, giving you a console-like experience that runs Steam and plugs directly into your TV or computer monitor.
The console is essentially a more powerful Steam Deck, running SteamOS to allow people to play their PC games library comfortably in a console-like interface.
One useful thing about the Steam Machine, as was the case with the Steam Deck before it, is that all versions of the machine are running one set of hardware, meaning it’s easier for developers to optimise for the platform.
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This is how game devs are able to optimise for the Steam Deck, earning games that run well on the platform a Steam Deck Verified badge. It’s expected that the same thing will occur for the Steam Machine, where a Verified badge will tell customers if a certain game runs well on the system.
“One easy rule of thumb is that if your title is Verified on Steam Deck, it will be Verified on Steam Machine,” says Valve designer Lawrence Yang in an interview with Game Developer, who also stated that there will be “fewer constraints” to getting a Steam Machine Verified badge compared to Steam Deck.
This is largely down to the fact that the Steam Machine is around “six times” more powerful than a Steam Deck, at least according to Valve.
This is largely down to the fact the Steam Machine isn’t a handheld device, so it has more space to fit larger, more advanced GPUs and processors inside it.
That means Steam Deck Verified games that need to be run at a lower resolution or framerate (I’m looking at you, Baldur’s Gate 3), should be able to have their settings turned up quite dramatically in order to look great on your TV screen.
However, with it also being a PC under the hood, you can expect to be able to tweak the games in whatever way you see fit, allowing you to hit higher performance targets at the cost of certain graphical features.
The Steam Deck is set for launch in Q1 2026, but Valve hasn’t announced a full release date yet. As always, we’ll be sure to update you when this changes.