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Valve hasn't found a game that the Steam Deck can't handle

By Tim Augustin - on 26 Jul 2021, 5:12pm

Valve hasn't found a game that the Steam Deck can't handle

Image: Valve

But can it run Crysis?

Valve’s handheld gaming PC the Steam Deck is launching later this year, and Valve is very confident that it will be able to run the latest games with no issues. The company has stated that the Steam Deck has been able to run every tested game at 30fps or more. 

Coder Pierre-Loup Griffais refers to this performance as, “the floor of what we consider playable in our performance testing; games we've tested and shown have consistently met and exceeded that bar so far.” Basically, that means 30fps at 800p resolution is the bare minimum of what the Steam Deck is capable of. 

The "30 FPS target" refers to the floor of what we consider playable in our performance testing; games we've tested and shown have consistently met and exceeded that bar so far. There will also be an optional built-in FPS limiter to fine-tune perf vs. battery life.

— Pierre-Loup Griffais (@Plagman2) July 25, 2021

According to an interview with IGN however, the Steam Deck wasn’t always hitting these performance highs. Griffais said, “We’ve been looking at various games over the past few years in the back catalog. But the real test for us was games that were coming out last year. They just couldn’t really run very well on the previous types of prototypes and architectures we were testing.”

Things are looking up for the Steam Deck now, though. Says Griffais, “We haven’t really found something that we could throw at this device that it couldn’t handle.” If you were worried that the Steam Deck wouldn’t be able to run a flashy new game without heavy performance compromises, worry no more. It looks like Valve has managed to find a sweet spot with the Steam Deck’s technical specs. 

Griffais also added that the Steam Deck will come with an optional fps limiter that allows gamers to balance performance with battery life, depending on where their priorities lie. The device launches this December, with prices starting from US$399.

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