While Steam Frame is primarily designed for high quality game streaming from a PC, it's also a full PC running SteamOS, with standalone capabilities: games can be run entirely on the headset, not connected to anything.

Like Steam Deck Verified, the Steam Frame Standalone Verified program focuses on the experience customers will have with the device out-of-the-box in standalone mode. The criteria are similar as well: the default graphics configuration needs to perform well, text and UI elements need to be clear and legible on the built-in display, and the default controller configuration needs to work well with the Steam Frame Controllers. The same test criteria apply to both VR titles and non-VR titles.

At the core of this system is a compatibility review process that's similar in structure to the existing Steam build review process:

• Valve will review your game on Steam Frame, checking it against a specific set of criteria. (See Frame Compatibility Checklist below.)
  
• When the review completes, you'll be provided detailed point-by-point results through the partner site.
  
• You'll have a window of time to review these results before they're published.
  
• Once published, customers will be able to see the results of your compatibility testing when browsing games in their library or the store.

The results of a compatibility review will not affect whether your game is available to customers on Frame, but will affect how it is presented.
This process is a direct extension of the existing Steam Deck Compatibility Review process. Here is a quick overview of that process for those unfamiliar:
https://youtu.be/a8tNvhwkth8

Frame Compatibility Ratings

Many games work great as-is on Frame. Some games may require manual user configuration, or may only be relevant to users with specific setups. Other games may not be a good experience due to the shift to a portable form factor or an incompatibility with Steam Frame's software/hardware stack. The core goal of the compatibility review process is making it clear to customers at a glance which of these groups each game fits into by assigning a badge to each:

	Verified	Your game passes all compatibility checks. No configuration work is required for users to access all game functionality.
	Playable	Your game functions on Frame, but may require manual work from the user. (Examples: manually selecting a community controller config, requiring the user to manually bring up the on-screen keyboard, or tweaking in-game settings to meet minimum performance requirements.)
	Unsupported	Your game does not function on Frame due to incompatibility with Proton or specific hardware components.
	Unknown	This game has not completed the compatibility review process. Information about how the game will play on Frame is unavailable.

Once results are published, users will see the appropriate compatibility badge when browsing games in both the store and the library. These badges are designed to help users quickly identify the experiences that are right for their goals and setup while browsing.

Frame Compatibility Checklist

Form Factor Requirements

While Steam Frame is a fully-functional PC, we anticipate the most common use cases will be different from a standard desktop. In order to receive the Verified badge, you need to meet all of the following criteria, aimed at helping customers feel comfortable playing your game on Frame. Most failures in this category will cause your game to appear with a Playable badge.

As a reminder, these represent a one-size-fits-all minimum bar. We trust you'll target what makes most sense for your game and customers.

Performance

• 2D titles: your game must run at a minimum 30 fps at 1280x720 during normal play.
  
• VR titles: your game must run at a minimum of 72 fps at 1728x1728 during normal play.
  (Recommendations: We strongly recommend submitting both motion vector and depth suitable for reprojection. This will not automatically throttle your application, but will enable users to optionally run at higher refresh rates using improved reprojection techniques.)
  VR games below 1440x1440 will appear with an Unsupported badge.
  To assist in evaluating performance, we've added a Performance Criteria Overlay to SteamVR.

Input

• controller models: VR games that render controller models must show Frame's controllers. (Recommendations: We recommend using OpenXR's XR_EXT_render_model or XR_EXT_interaction_render_model, or OpenVR's IVRRenderModel interface, for obtaining the controller model mesh at runtime in order to automatically support current and future devices.)
  
• controller support: your game must support Steam Frame's physical controls. The default controller configuration must provide users with the ability to access all content. Players must not need to adjust any in-game settings in order to enable controller support or this configuration.
  
• controller glyphs: when using Steam Frame's physical controls, on-screen glyphs must either match Frame button names, or match Xbox 360/One button names. Mouse and keyboard glyphs should not be shown if they are not the active input. Interacting with any physical Frame controls using the default configuration must not show non-controller glyphs. (Recommendations: We strongly recommend using the SteamInput API, which will automatically show the correct glyphs regardless of which input device the user is using.)

Seamlessness

• no device compatibility warnings: the app must not present the user with information that the Frame software (ie., specific Linux distribution) or hardware (ie., GPU) is unsupported.
  
• launchers: for games with launchers, those launchers also must meet the requirements listed here, including full navigability with a controller. (Recommendations: We recommend strongly against requiring the user to navigate a launcher to play your game.)

Proton Requirements

Proton is a Windows compatibility layer. On Frame, games without native Linux builds will be run through Proton, a set of tools that will automatically take your current Windows executable and game data and run them on Steam Frame's Linux-based OS.

Proton is a work in progress, and it's possible that your game may not yet be fully supported. If your game's Steam Frame compatibility review turns up blocking bugs or performance problems specific to Proton, those issues will be added to our internal issue tracking system and your game will appear with an Unsupported badge. Once the issues have been resolved, we'll automatically notify you and re-test your game.