Steam Extends Support to Non-Steam Deck Gaming Handhelds

Handheld gaming, huh? It’s like, constantly shape-shifting, and honestly, Valve—yeah, the folks behind Steam—is just diving headfirst into the chaos of it all. What are they up to now? Good question. So, turns out, they wanna stretch their SteamOS wings beyond the good old Steam Deck. Makes you wonder where it all ends, right?

Anyway, Valve just dropped a bomb about their new SteamOS Compatibility system. Bear with me here. It’s kinda like a guidebook — but for games. So, if you’ve got anything other than a Steam Deck running SteamOS, this thing’s for you. The Lenovo Legion Go S, scheduled for a May launch, is getting it. First SteamOS gizmo not carrying the Steam Deck badge, mind you. So, they’re definitely up to something. Or maybe not. Who really knows?

Now, this SteamOS Compatibility thing (what a mouthful) is meant to be your go-to for figuring out if a game vibes with SteamOS. So, you won’t be left scratching your head over game features, launcher quirks, or battling evil anti-cheat monstrosities. If a game passes, it gets a thumbs-up—er, a mark. Didn’t make the cut? It’s got the dreaded Unsupported label. But here’s a kicker: performance? Yeah, they don’t look at that. Wild, right? Devices play by their own rules.

Valve’s dreaming big with this launch. They’re aiming to slap their seal of approval (literally a blue checkmark) on over 18,000 games. Imagine that for a sec. Oh, and if you’re hanging out with a Lenovo Legion Go S or an Asus ROG Ally toying with the SteamOS beta? You’ll probably spot these ratings popping up soon.

Oh, and here’s something to chew on: when they check out games for Steam Deck cred, they’ll also peek at SteamOS Compatibility now. Devs have it easy with an automated process—it’s like they don’t even have to try. Okay, maybe they do, but you get the drift.

Here’s a juicy tidbit from Valve’s FAQ section: they’re betting big that SteamOS Compatibility results will either match or top the Steam Deck Verified outcomes. So, in theory, if a game jives with the Steam Deck, it should groove just fine elsewhere too. Makes me wonder if they’re hoping we don’t notice the little mismatches… or if it’ll just work out. Who knows!