Valve has officially and inconspicuously revealed that it plans to launch its Steam Machine and Steam Frame this summer. After months of speculation and rumors, the goal release window has been narrowed all the way down to sometime this summer. Valve slipped the discharge info in a recent blog post detailing standalone verification for the brand new gaming hardware. Now, one might think that given the interest for each pieces of hardware, Valve might’ve chosen a more formal announcement, but things are what they’re, and here you go.
“Today we’re expanding the Verified program to incorporate Steam Machine and Steam Frame, each of that are shipping this summer. As with Steam Deck Verified, the goal is to assist customers understand the out-of-box experience for a given title on these recent devices, and the way easily a game will run with no user work or configuration required.”
– Valve
Steam’s verified program is a database clarifying the compatibility of games with Steam’s Linux-based Proton OS. Up until now, it has been used to help owners of the Steam Deck to see compatibility rankings for games on the gaming handheld, but now includes rankings for the Steam Machine gaming console and the Steam Frame VR headset. Valve previously revealed requirements for each pieces of hardware, advising developers that optimizing for lower spec machines increases their target market back in March.
“Long story short: In case your game already runs well on Deck, it is going to also run well on Machine with no extra work required from you. And if it doesn’t run great on Deck due to CPU or GPU performance, it should run great on Machine.”
– Valve
Those details proceed to align with Valve’s latest in that if a title runs well on the Steam Deck, it is going to also achieve this on the Steam Machine, however it’s added that if a game doesn’t perform well on the Steam Deck, it could see higher performance on the Steam Deck with its more powerful hardware. Meanwhile, in the case of the Steam Frame, similar guidance is provided, however it is designed for use with a PC for streaming, and its integrated standalone hardware is able to playing games.
“While Steam Frame is primarily designed for top of the range game streaming from a PC, it’s also a full PC running SteamOS, with standalone capabilities: games could be run entirely on the headset, not connected to anything.”
– Valve
Valve has already begun posting its testing results for games on either hardware and has updated its partner dashboard with the outcomes. The updated dashboard now includes tabs for the Steam Machine and likewise the Steam Frame (standalone mode).
Pointless to say, there’s excitement constructing for Valve’s upcoming hardware releases, especially for its wireless VR headset, and it now looks just like the wait is sort of over.