Valve updates Verified program ahead of Steam Machine launch
Valve has confirmed that Steam Machine and Steam Frame are scheduled to ship this summer. The update was included in a Steamworks post about the company’s Verified program, which is now being expanded beyond Steam Deck.
Today we are expanding the Verified program to include Steam Machine and Steam Frame, both of which are shipping this summer. As with Steam Deck Verified, the goal is to help customers understand the out-of-box experience for a given title on these new devices, and how smoothly a game will run with no user work or configuration required.
— Valve
This is a more specific launch window than Valve’s previous public wording. The company had already said that its 2026 hardware plans were affected by memory and storage shortages. Earlier updates still pointed to a 2026 release, but without a firm date for Steam Machine or Steam Frame.
Verified expands beyond Steam Deck
Valve says games will now be checked for Steam Machine and Steam Frame compatibility. Steam Machine will use a similar badge system to Steam Deck, allowing users to see whether a game runs as expected on the new SteamOS desktop system.
The same process will also apply to Steam Frame. If a game did not run well enough on Steam Deck due to performance limits, Valve may test it again on Steam Machine. This could allow some titles to receive a Steam Machine Verified badge even if they were not Steam Deck Verified.
We recently covered Valve adding Steam Machine “Welcome Tour” files to the Steam backend. We also covered reservation code that referenced four Steam Machine packages, likely tied to the confirmed 512GB and 2TB storage options, possibly with and without the Steam Controller.
Valve has not confirmed the launch price for Steam Machine or Steam Frame. Steam Machine uses a semi-custom AMD Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 graphics with 28 Compute Units, while Steam Frame is a standalone VR headset with local playback and wireless PC streaming support.
Some gamers believe we might get an update tomorrow at Summer Game Fest, given that the host Geoff Keighley teased ‘steam’.
Source: Valve
