Valve has announced the requirements for games to receive the new “Steam Machine Verified” compatibility badge, which will apply to titles for future Steam Machine devices. The minimum performance benchmark for this certification is native 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second.
This requirement, revealed at the Game Developers Conference 2026, differs from earlier reports about the system’s capabilities, which had mentioned support for 4K at 60 fps utilizing AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution upscaling technology. Essentially, the newly set standard indicates that while 4K gaming might be achievable on the device, it will likely often involve the use of aggressive image scaling settings.
Valve also confirmed that all games that have already received the “Steam Deck Verified” badge will automatically be granted “Steam Machine Verified” status. This implies that they will adhere to the same control and input requirements as the portable Steam Deck system.
However, the company clarified a nuance: if a game is currently not supported on Steam Deck due to insufficient performance, it can still undergo separate testing specifically for Steam Machine. Should the project successfully achieve the minimum performance level of 1080p at 30 fps on the Steam Machine hardware, it will be eligible to receive the corresponding verified status.
Among other key details of the certification program:
- All games with existing Deck Verified status are automatically considered Machine Verified.
- The same control requirements as for Steam Deck are applied.
- The minimum performance threshold for the badge is 30 frames per second at 1080p resolution.
- The performance of the Steam Machine system is estimated to be approximately six times higher than that of the Steam Deck.
- The testing process for this certification does not include checks for display resolution or interface readability.
- An updated API specifically for hardware detection has been integrated into the program.