Steam Frame · Guides
What Games Run on Steam Frame
Summary
Steam Frame's standalone badges rate local flat and VR play, while streamed games depend on a separate host and network path.
Steam Frame can access a Steam library, but that does not mean every title runs locally in the same way. Valve's badges rate standalone execution on the headset. Streamed play is a separate path whose result depends on the host computer and network.
The four standalone badge states
Valve's Steam Frame compatibility review uses four states:
- Verified: the title passes Valve's Frame criteria without required manual changes.
- Playable: it runs, but Valve identified one or more caveats that the user may need to handle.
- Unsupported: it does not meet the current requirements.
- Unknown: Valve has not assigned a result yet.
Unknown is not a prediction. It means the current catalog has no completed result to show.
Valve's Great on Frame collection is the official place to browse qualifying titles. A game's store page should remain the source for its current badge because results can change with game, Proton, FEX, SteamOS, or review updates.
What Valve checks
A compatibility result covers more than whether an executable opens. Valve documents checks for launch behavior, controller support and glyphs, readable text, runtime compatibility, and performance in the Frame form factor.
The published performance floors differ by presentation:
- A standalone flat title must meet at least 30 FPS at 1280 × 720.
- A standalone VR title must meet at least 72 FPS at 1728 × 1728 per eye.
- A VR title below 1440 × 1440 per eye is treated as unsupported.
These are minimum review criteria, not a claim that every Verified game has identical image quality or never drops a frame. Valve's VR assessment uses a rolling 32-frame average and filters isolated excursions so repeated timing problems matter more than one brief event.
The badges cover standalone play only
Valve explicitly limits this review to games running locally on Steam Frame. It does not rate PC-streamed execution because the host hardware and network are outside one fixed test target.
That creates two important boundaries:
- A Verified badge supports a local-play claim, not a guarantee about a particular PC stream.
- Missing or Unsupported standalone status does not prove a suitable host PC cannot stream the game.
Always state which path you mean when asking whether a game “runs on Frame.”
How standalone software reaches ARM64
Steam Frame uses an ARM64 processor. Valve documents several supported execution models:
- Native Linux ARM64: the developer ships a build for Frame's architecture.
- Windows x86 through Proton and FEX: Proton handles Windows compatibility and FEX translates x86 instructions to ARM64.
- Android ARM64 through Lepton: the developer supplies an Android depot for the Lepton path.
Valve expects existing Windows x86 builds to be common, but each title still has to pass the actual compatibility review. The presence of Proton or FEX is not itself a performance result.
Why Steam Deck badges are separate
Steam Deck uses x86-64 hardware. A Windows game on Deck may need Proton, but it does not need FEX to translate the processor instruction set.
Deck Verified can tell you that Valve has reviewed a title on Deck. It cannot stand in for Frame's ARM64 runtime, controller presentation, virtual-screen behavior, or VR requirements. The correct Frame evidence is a Frame badge or an explicitly labeled Frame observation.
The same caution applies to community reports. Our Steam Frame Run Scores separate standalone flat, standalone VR, and streamed VR instead of borrowing a result from Deck or another Frame mode.
Anti-cheat and other blockers are title-specific
Compatibility layers can interact with anti-cheat, launchers, codecs, peripherals, and account flows. Avoid turning one game's failure into a rule for every title using the same vendor or feature.
Check the exact game's current Frame badge and details. If Valve marks it Playable or Unsupported, read the listed reason rather than inferring a cause from its Deck status.
How to check a game
- Look for the current Frame compatibility result on the game's Steam page.
- Browse Valve's Great on Frame collection when you want confirmed qualifying titles.
- Confirm whether you plan to play standalone flat, standalone VR, or streamed VR.
- For community performance evidence, use only results labeled for that exact Frame mode.
- Recheck after meaningful game, SteamOS, Proton, or FEX updates.
What still needs retail verification
- The size and composition of the reviewed catalog at retail availability.
- How quickly badges update after game and system changes.
- Real-world behavior of Playable caveats on consumer units.
- Breadth of native Linux ARM64 and Android depots.
- Streamed compatibility across host operating systems, GPUs, and networks.