30,000 games are either Steam Deck verified or at least 'playable' on Valve's handheld
Hands on, and on the go.
Valve's handheld device, the Steam Deck, introduced in February 2022, has facilitated the ability to play Steam games on the go. Almost five years later, the company reports that 30,000 games are either Steam Deck verified or deemed playable on the handheld. According to SteamDB, this comprises 8,964 Steam Deck Verified games and 21,083 games flagged as playable on the device. This is a significant increase from the 3,000 games that fit this category back in May 2022.
Steam Deck verification signifies that a game should work seamlessly on the handheld from the moment of installation, while playable games may require some tweaking to optimize the experience. Steam Deck verification extends its reach beyond the handheld to encompass similar compatibility checks for the Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and SteamOS in general.
However, the verification process for the Steam Deck can be complex, often presenting developers with challenging requirements. Games without verification or compatibility badges are not necessarily unplayable on the Steam Deck, as demonstrated by Dragon Age: Origins, which Valve lists as unsupported but can run surprisingly well on the handheld.
It's also important to note that games with certain anti-cheat systems designed for Windows-based platforms may not function optimally on the Steam Deck's Linux-based SteamOS, as seen with Ubisoft's decision to remove For Honor from the Linux platform.
As of now, over 130,000 games have been released on Steam, double the number from 2022. This growth in the platform over the past four years has pushed Steam Deck compatibility to a mere 10% of all Steam games, a stark contrast to the earlier figures.
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