Steam Deck performance gets a reality check with Valve's new FPS data

Key Points:

• Valve has begun sharing anonymized frame rate data collected from Steam Deck users on Steam Store pages, providing average and histogram visuals for both the Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED models to better inform players about game performance.
• This frame rate data helps differentiate performance levels among games with the same "Verified" status, revealing, for example, that Cyberpunk 2077 runs at 30–40 FPS while Skyrim: Special Edition achieves 50–60 FPS on the Steam Deck.
• The data also highlights playable frame rates for some games labeled "Unsupported" on Steam Deck, such as Starfield, Silent Hill 2, and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, with the latter nearing 60 FPS on the Steam Deck OLED despite its unsupported status.
• Frame rate insights are useful for single-player modes in games with multiplayer issues on SteamOS, like Watch Dogs 2, which averages over 40 FPS despite being officially unsupported due to anti-cheat problems.
• Valve is exploring broader tools to estimate frame rates on varied PC hardware, including a potential Steam "Framerate Estimator," aiming to provide users with more reliable performance predictions beyond minimum and recommended specs.