Valve has released an update to the Steam client that adds average frame rates for games on the Steam Deck handheld console. Now users can see real-world performance metrics for games before purchasing them, calculated based on anonymous data from the players themselves.
Valve has released an update to the Steam client that adds average frame rates for games on the Steam Deck handheld console. Now users can see real-world performance metrics for games before purchasing them, calculated based on anonymous data from the players themselves.
This was reported on the official Steam developer blog.
The new data is available on each game’s page under "Steam Deck Compatibility" → "More Details" and in the beta client user library. Statistics are collected for thousands of titles in the "Compatible", "Playable" and "Unsupported" categories. In addition to the average value, Valve has added a detailed frame rate histogram, which allows you to assess the stability of the gameplay and the presence of possible stutters or performance drops.
The company explains that the standard Steam Deck Verified rating system does not always reflect the subjective experience of users. For example, a game with the status "Not Supported" due to FPS fluctuations may suit some players, while a title marked "Compatible" may not reach the desired frequency for more demanding users.
“By providing average frame rate data for each game, users now have a more holistic view of how each one performs on Steam Deck and can make more informed purchasing decisions,” Valve said.
To maintain the accuracy of data collection, the developers only take into account sessions with the console’s default frame rate limit settings (90 FPS for Steam Deck OLED and 60 FPS for Steam Deck LCD), and the statistics themselves appear only after the required minimum of collected data points is reached.
In the future, Valve plans to expand this feature and collect anonymous performance statistics not only for Steam Deck, but also for regular desktop PCs.
