The Steam Deck runs a custom version of Linux. The custom version is called SteamOS. The operating system of the Steam Deck can be easily changed, and you can install Windows on it. But the native operating system is very easy to use, and using Windows on it can be a little tricky. The reason many would want to install Windows is to play games unsupported by SteamOS.
The users of Linux have often seen themselves being left out of the gaming landscape, and many titles are not designed to run on this operating system, but thanks to Valve’s innovative Steam Deck, the tides might have turned, and now Linux gamers can get support.
Major Takeaways
- Valve’s Steam Deck runs on the custom Linux-based operating system called SteamOS, which can be easily changed to install Windows for playing unsupported games.
- The Steam Deck has provided support for Linux gamers, who have historically been left out of the gaming landscape due to many titles not being compatible with their operating system.
- According to Mastodon user Boiling Stream, 75% of the 13,306 Steam games tested at the time of their post are either playable or verified on the Steam Deck.
- The number of verified games for the Steam Deck has been steadily increasing, with over 10,000 games verified so far, at a rate of around 3,000 games per month.
- While there has been progressing in verifying games for the Steam Deck, some debates exist around the reliability of the “verified” tag, as certain games struggle to perform smoothly on the device, as The Last of Us remake for PC.
Mastodon user Boiling Stream in his post on the platform, said that 75% of Steam Games ever tested are now either playable or verified on the Steam Deck. That is 13306 games ever tested at the time of him writing this post.
The ratio of Playable Steam Deck GamesA few days ago, Steam Deck passed the milestone of verifying 10,000 games. According to Boiling Stream here, the titles are being tested at the rate of 3000 each month. Since January 2023, 7000 titles have been verified for the Steam Deck.
The unsupported games on the console are falling over time, and the graph below demonstrates that.
Image Credits – Boiling StreamThat was all for the good news. We do have bad news for you. The cumulative percentage of Steam Deck being verified each week is falling. Valve has put more emphasis on the newer title, and even titles that are not yet released are being validated, but the old titles; the emphasis on them has decreased. This is not surprising from Valve, as it is only logical to do that.
The reliability of the verified tag has been a subject of debate. There are many games out there on the Steam Deck that, despite being verified, struggle to play smoothly. The prime example is The Last of Us remake for PC. The game is generally very poorly optimized and struggles on many modern-day powerful gaming computers out there but still, Steam Deck, not even holding around 30 Frames Per Second, is a bummer.
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