Valve recently announced an opt-in toggle to enable data collection in Steam for the Steam Deck. The feature aims to help developers analyze framerate data using built-in tools to optimize games for the handheld's hardware. In a Steam Client update, Valve confirmed it will now share average Steam Deck framerate data with players before they purchase games. This allows users to gauge the gameplay experience more accurately before spending money.
The framerate data appears as an average FPS figure at the bottom of the Steam Deck compatibility screen, specific to the player's current hardware. The display includes the date the average was last updated. Users can expand a histogram showing the game's framerate distribution across sessions as a percentage by clicking the dropdown arrow. This visualization conveys how often players encounter gameplay hitching with relative certainty.
As a "stepping stone" toward broader implementation, Valve also started prompting desktop players in the Steam Client Beta to opt into framerate data collection. The system acknowledges imperfections, such as potential VSync issues when there is a mismatch between the Deck's display refresh rate and the game's target framerate. Large gaps between framerates, like 90 FPS and 45 FPS, typically result from refresh rate mismatches, causing the system to sync the game's framerate to the display's native rate to avoid graphical glitches.
Source: TechPowerUp News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing