Updated

Ars Technica reported on November 10, 2026 that Valve's new FPS data offers a reality check on Steam Deck performance, and that benchmark tools for generic gaming rigs could be coming soon. Valve has collected anonymized frame rate data from opt-in Steam players since February and now shows averages and histograms for the Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED on many Steam Store pages. Valve acknowledges that VSync or frame rate limits can bias the results and that custom in-game settings are not accounted for, but says the data consolidates around relatively narrow ranges. Ars Technica said this helps separate games with the same Verified badge: Cyberpunk 2077 averages 30 to 40 FPS on the Deck, while Skyrim Special Edition usually reaches 50 to 60 FPS. Games marked Unsupported also show playable rates, including Starfield, Silent Hill 2 and Assassin's Creed Syndicate, which nears a 60 FPS average on the OLED model. Watch Dogs 2 is Unsupported because of anti-cheat issues, yet players report averages of 40-plus FPS in single-player modes. Ar Technica noted that fixed hardware makes this simpler than for generic PCs. Strings in the Steam client in April pointed to a possible Framerate Estimator tool that would chart estimated frame rates for a chosen app and PC configuration, which Ars Technica said could help users look beyond listed requirements without relying on third-party estimator sites. Valve said it is always looking for new ways to help developers understand customer experiences. Ars Technica asked whether sharing average frame rate data for the fixed-configuration Steam Machine would be too much to ask.