Steam Deck “30 FPS Target” Confusion Clarified by Valve

The developer meant to at least play on those frame rates.

A recent comment by game company Valve about the Steam Deck about the “30 FPS target” has made many excited fans worried, but a new statement has clarified this confusion.

Valve Developer Pierre-Loup Griffais was indirectly the cause of this confusion as he recently stated that the game industry is usually pushing for sharper resolutions and higher framerates and this is good for the handheld PC due to its low-resolution screen and 30 FPS target. Everyone got confused and that led to them worrying with some even saying that it will only play up to 30 FPS at most.

Griffais quickly cleared that up in a recent statement he posted on his personal Twitter account. He revealed that 30 FPS is not the “roof” but actually the “floor” that Valve considers playable in their performance testing. This explains why they revealed that they have not found a game yet that the handheld PC could not handle.

The developer assured everyone that the games that they have tested and shown have “consistently met and exceeded that bar so far”. This meant that the games that it can play will be at least 30 FPS when played, but can go further than that or even more than 60 FPS.

Griffais also mentioned that the Steam Deck might play at least 30 FPS, it will also have an FPS limiter for those who do not want to go beyond that. This was designed in order for players to preserve battery life since higher frame rates can eat more power.

The Steam Deck pre-orders have recently sold out with shipping starting on December 2021.