Valve is preparing its next generation of hardware for launch. The company has now expanded one of Steam Deck’s most popular features to support those upcoming devices.

Valve has reaffirmed that both Steam Machine and Steam Frame are scheduled to ship in Summer 2026. Besides this, the company has also announced that its Verified program will now cover the new platforms as well.

The Steam Deck Verified system was introduced to help players quickly identify whether a game runs smoothly on Valve’s handheld.

According to a new Steamworks update, Steam Machine and Steam Frame will receive similar compatibility badges. Steam Machine Verified will work much like Steam Deck Verified, while Steam Frame Standalone Verified will judge how well games run on the headset itself without extra setup.

Coming to the Steam Machine, the verification process is quite similar to Steam Deck Verified. As per Valve, the requirements are based on controller compatibility, graphics settings, and overall user experience.

The Steam Machine is designed as a SteamOS-powered living-room gaming PC. On the other hand, the Steam Frame functions as both a PC VR headset and a standalone SteamOS device.

The company also noted that the Steam Machine runs the same software stack as the Steam Deck. This includes SteamOS, the Steam interface, and Proton. Hence, games that already perform well on Steam Deck are expected to work well on Steam Machine with no extra effort from developers.

Valve also confirmed that Steam Machine hardware is roughly six times more powerful than Steam Deck. Because of CPU or GPU limitations, some games previously missed Steam Deck verification. Now it seems those games might qualify for Steam Machine Verified. It has already started retesting such titles automatically.

There will be a Standalone Verified program for Steam Frame as well. Besides streaming from a PC, the headset already runs games natively through SteamOS.

That means the titles will be evaluated based on standalone performance in terms of graphics performance, readable UI and text on the headset display, and controller compatibility.

Valve has also updated the Steamworks Partner Dashboard with dedicated Steam Machine and Steam Frame verification tabs alongside Steam Deck Verified.

Valve Reaffirms Summer 2026 Launch Plans for New Hardware

With this update, we also got a confirmation on the launch timings of Steam Machine and Steam Frame. Both devices were originally tagged with a 2026 release window.

The whole industry is marred by memory chip shortages and increasing production costs. These two new releases aren't free from those concerns. Valve itself acknowledged that increasing DRAM and storage prices were affecting hardware plans.

Despite all the challenges, both Steam Machine and Steam Frame are still shipping this summer. However, the pricing or the exact release dates haven't been revealed yet.

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Written by

Nilendu Brahma

Edited by

Aadesh Dhote