Valve is rolling out a new SteamOS Compatibility rating system to cover every device running SteamOS, not just the Steam Deck. This Steam Deck Verified program extension arrives as Lenovo's Legion Go S, running SteamOS, prepares to ship to customers. Valve hopes the added visibility will help players decide which games will work smoothly on their hardware. Under this system, a game and all its middleware, including launchers, anti-cheat tools, and so forth, must be fully supported on SteamOS to earn the "SteamOS Compatible" label. Titles not meeting these requirements will be marked "SteamOS Unsupported." Valve emphasizes that this initial rollout focuses solely on basic compatibility. It does not yet include performance benchmarks or input testing, since hardware variations can lead to very different frame rates and control experiences.

Valve expects to award SteamOS Compatible ratings to over 18,000 games at launch. Developers who have already gone through the Steam Deck Verified process do not need to take any additional steps. An automated system will convert existing Steam Deck test results into SteamOS ratings. Games that have not been tested before will enter the same community-driven evaluation queue, with both Steam Deck and SteamOS results published together once testing finishes. For players using SteamOS on devices other than the Steam Deck, the Steam Store and Steam Client will clearly display the new compatibility badges. If you are browsing on a Legion Go S or any other supported device, you will see the SteamOS Compatible or Unsupported icon alongside the existing Steam Deck Verified icon. On non-SteamOS platforms, these labels will not appear, and the store will function as it does today. Valve plans to update the Steam client's interface and publish the initial batch of compatibility data in the next few weeks.