We’re getting ever closer to the release of the Steam Machine and Steam Frame – two of Valve’s three hardware launches this year. Valve has officially published Steamworks documentation for the new cubed mini PC and VR headset. These explain the “best practices” for optimization and verification requirements – in a similar vein to the ‘Steam Deck Verified’ program.

The third piece of the hardware, the second-gen Steam Controller, arrived just over a month ago, as it wasn’t held back by memory and storage shortages that continue to plague the industry. Given the recent Steam Deck price hikes, we now expect the Steam Machine to ship with a four-figure price tag, and it only makes sense to expect the Steam Frame to suffer similar hikes.

Steam Machine Verified and Steam Frame Verified requirements

In an official blog post, Valve explains what it takes for developers to get their games verified on these systems. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard these requirements (they were explained at GDC 2026 in March), but the new Steamworks documentation provides game devs with much more to dive into.

Interestingly, 90 FPS was the original minimum benchmark announced for standalone VR titles; Valve now seems to have dropped the requirement to 72 FPS when running at 1728 x 1728 resolution (per eye). This matches the base 72Hz refresh rate of the display, though the max resolution is 2160 x 2160 (per eye). Valve did not specify a resolution for 90 FPS performance at GDC.

Performance

• 2D titles: your game must run at a minimum 30 fps at 1280×720 during normal play.
• VR titles: your game must run at a minimum of 72 fps at 1728×1728 during normal play.
  (Recommendations: We strongly recommend submitting both motion vector and depth suitable for reprojection. This will not automatically throttle your application, but will enable users to optionally run at higher refresh rates using improved reprojection techniques.)

Steam Frame Standalone performance requirements, source: Steamworks

Performance

• Default Configuration: the game must ship with a default configuration that results in a playable framerate. On Steam Deck, this is 30fps at 800p, and on Steam Machine this is 30fps at 1080p.

Steam Deck Verified & Steam Machine Verified performance requirements, source: Steamworks

As you’d expect, any Steam Deck Verified games will already be verified on the more powerful Steam Machine – both (as well as the Frame) run on the same operating system, SteamOS, so the game must run on Linux or be supported by Valve’s Proton compatibility layer.

It’s not all about performance, however, as Verified games must work seamlessly with any built-in controls. The Steam Deck has more restrictions to consider, such as text legibility and specific resolution support (preferably 1280×800).

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.