How we rate playability

Valve's Verified badge answers a yes/no question: does the game run? We answer the question buyers actually ask — how well, at which settings, and is it worth it. Because the Steam Machine and Steam Frame are brand new, most numbers here are estimated, not measured — and we always say which.

The three-tier data model

• Measured— real FPS from published launch-review benchmarks (Tom's Hardware, Gamers Nexus, Digital Foundry, Notebookcheck) or a corroborated community report on the actual device.
• Estimated— derived from the game's requirements mapped onto the device's GPU tier (the Machine is ~RX 7600 / RTX 4060 class, 8 GB VRAM, a 1080p/1440p part — not the native-4K box the marketing implies).
• Derived from Deck — scaled up from measured Steam Deck data by a per-resolution multiplier, then sanity-checked against the review anchor set.
• Community-reported — submitted by readers and shown once enough reports corroborate.

What the colours mean

• Green — Runs great: a stable, comfortable experience at that settings tier.
• Amber — Playable, with caveats: needs FSR, a frame cap, or a settings compromise to hold up.
• Red — Struggles: below a comfortable framerate even with help.

Why VR is rated differently

The Steam Frame can run a game two ways — natively on its mobile chip, or streamed from a host PC. Valve only certifies native play, so we rate native status separately and treat streamed quality as a reference to the host's rating.

Honesty rules

We treat “4K 60” as a claim to test, not a headline. We never present an estimate as a measurement. And every verdict is signed by a named tester — guesses don't get bylines.