Have you ever clicked on a Steam Deck Verified game, attempted to boot it up, and realised it probably shouldn't have been verified? Well, Steam's new system should help developers give a more accurate understanding of how their games run on the Steam Deck.
As of October 1 (via TechPowerUp), Valve has given developers access to frame rate data as reported by Steam Deck users. A developer can see the frame rate that users are playing at as a percentage of sessions, meaning they can see if it runs well (at the Steam Deck's usual 60/90 fps cap) or not (users are generally lowering the fps limit).
That does mean it's only data willingly shared, and there are some caveats. The LCD Steam Deck has a max refresh rate of 60, while the OLED model goes up to 90. As games are often capped for fps to save resources, that will shape the stats somewhat. In addition, it can't guarantee how Steam Deck owners use their devices.
That being said, giving access to a high enough volume of data means that the fps averages should balance out in a bell curve, assuming enough players opt in. Valve claims "a majority of Steam Deck players have opted in".
The major benefit of this update is that developers can see how their games run on a mass of Steam Decks, and therefore adjust graphical options. This could be particularly valuable in games like Cyberpunk 2077 that have a dedicated Steam Deck mode.
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