The Steam Deck is a stand-alone product. On the one hand, it presents itself as a portable console with which one can play technically demanding games even without a large PC. On the other hand, it’s a PC disguised as a console that gives access to Steam’s huge catalog. Based on the premise that the Steam Deck is a full-fledged portable console, one can imagine that Valve would not want to release titles available anywhere else in order to make it more desirable. But that’s obviously not the American giant’s mindset.
Valve recently decided that its Steam Deck would have exclusive games. The American giant actually has the subject on his own Official FAQ for developers. So according to the latest news, there is no mention of Steam Deck exclusives missing from the Steam catalog on PC. Gabe Newell’s company presents it on their website as follows:
Question: Could any exclusive Steam Deck titles be of interest to Valve?
Answer: No, we think it doesn’t make sense. Steam Deck is a computer and should be able to start any game, such as a computer.
What about the compatibility of the Steam Deck with the games?
Another topic that comes up regularly is the compatibility of the Steam Deck with games already released on Steam. When Valve speaks of significant compatibility, it still categorizes games into three categories: Verified, Playable, and Incompatible.
The titles that fall into the first category are those that have been tested directly by Valve. For these tests, the official FAQ explains the process to the developers:
As a rule, your game should be verified by our team (either automatically or at your request). Various compatibility criteria are then checked: including controller support, readability, performance or compatibility with the operating system. Your title will then be assigned to a Steam Deck Compatibility Category, which will be displayed in the Steam Deck Shop and Library. Just go to the “Side by Side” tab to see the other titles in the store, regardless of their compatibility with Steam Deck.
Wait a few more months
Having Valve manually review a game is obviously of interest to developers. This can in fact make player selection easier by indirectly highlighting the titles officially verified on Steam Deck.
As a reminder, the first people to pre-order a Steam Deck will receive their console starting next February. No availability date “normal“Hasn’t been mentioned yet.
What do you think of Valve’s policy towards his Steam Deck? If she had exclusive games, would that make that more desirable to you? Are you planning to get a Steam deck? Tell us all about it in the comments below.