Steam Frame Verified 72fps - Indie Keep Hold Before Summer Window Closes 2026

If you searched steam frame verified in mid-August 2026, the useful question is not “will Valve ship the headset this summer?” You need a keep/hold: can a small team read the live Steamworks criteria tonight, separate Verified from Playable and Unsupported, stop budgeting against obsolete GDC 90fps folklore, smoke what you can without a kit, and HOLD store or press SKU language until the live bar is owned?

This URL owns that evening. It is not the Godot Steam Frame day-one export playbook (engine path picker). It is not Steam Machine Verified (living-room Great on Machine). It is the standalone Frame compatibility badge keep/hold against Valve’s published performance floor.

Why this matters now

Valve’s Steam Frame Standalone Compatibility Review Process is the primary source. For VR titles it currently requires a minimum of 72 fps at 1728×1728 during normal play. VR content below 1440×1440 is marked Unsupported. Press coverage in early August spelled out that many teams still quote the GDC-era 90 fps talk track even though the partner page has read 72 for months (Road to VR, VR.org).

Meanwhile Great on Frame — the store/library shelf for titles that pass Frame-friendly ratings — grew from a handful of titles in mid-July to dozens by early August. Summer’s shipping window for Frame hardware is still the active diligence clock for partners who want a SKU sentence before September.

Why August 17, 2026 still needs this URL:

1. Discord and pitch decks still paste “90 fps Verified” without opening Steamworks.
2. Engine “day-one support” posts (Godot, Unity, Unreal) are not Verified receipts.
3. Machine Verified and Deck Verified are different programs — collapsing them into “SteamOS ready” creates refund bait.
4. Catalog already owns Godot Frame export and Machine Verified; this URL owns the 72fps@1728 keep/hold.

Who this is for

Time: 60–90 minutes for docs + receipt without hardware; add kit time when you have a Frame or SteamVR Performance Assessment Overlay session.

Prerequisites: Steamworks partner access (or a teammate who can paste the live compat page), your current build branch name, and honesty about whether you have device access. Borrowing a kit for one evening still beats inventing a Verified badge from a stream session.

Plain vocabulary

Steam Frame Standalone Verified

Valve’s review of games that run locally on the headset (not PC-streamed to Frame). Results publish as badges players see in store and library. The review does not decide whether the game can be downloaded — it decides how it is presented.

Great on Frame

The curated discovery surface for Frame-friendly catalog titles (Verified/Playable class experiences). Treat shelf growth as a market signal, not as proof your title is already rated.

Verified / Playable / Unsupported / Unknown

72 fps at 1728×1728

Live VR Verified performance floor on Steamworks: 72 frames per second at 1728×1728 per eye during normal play. This is the number your smoke and CapEx notes must cite unless Valve edits the page again.

1440×1440 Unsupported floor

VR titles rendering below 1440×1440 appear Unsupported. That is a hard presentation gate, not a soft “Playable with tweaks” lane.

Motion vectors and depth (recommendation)

Steamworks strongly recommends submitting motion vector and depth suitable for reprojection. It does not auto-throttle your app; it enables users to optionally run higher refresh with improved reprojection. Do not claim “90 Hz native Verified” because you shipped vectors.

Live criteria table (cite Steamworks, not memory)

Always re-open the compat page on smoke night — partner docs can update without a press release.

Non-repetition matrix

Beginner path - Monday without a headset

You can still produce a useful keep/hold without Frame hardware.

G1 - Paste the live criteria (15 min)

1. Open Steam Frame Standalone Compatibility Review Process.
2. Copy the VR performance sentence and the 1440 Unsupported sentence into your receipt.
3. Note the date you copied them (2026-08-17 or later).
4. Delete any internal wiki line that still says “90 fps Verified.”

PASS: Receipt quotes 72fps@1728 and 1440 floor with a dated URL.
FAIL: Team still cites GDC slides as the badge bar.

Print the two sentences on a sticky note next to the producer monitor so standups cannot drift back to folklore mid-week.

G2 - Classify your product (10 min)

Write one line:

• VR standalone local → VR floors apply
• 2D/flatscreen standalone on Frame → 30 fps @ 720p floor
• PCVR stream only → this Verified program does not cover stream-to-Frame; say so explicitly

PASS: Product class named.
FAIL: “We’re Verified because Steam Link felt fine.”

G3 - Allowed marketing strings (15 min)

Draft a three-line allowlist:

1. What you may say today (e.g. “Evaluating Steam Frame Verified criteria against Steamworks 72fps@1728”).
2. What you may say only after kit smoke (e.g. “Held 72fps@1728 on Frame build X”).
3. What you may never say from folklore (e.g. “Steam Frame Verified at 90 fps”).

Paste into Discord. Marketing cannot invent Verified badges Valve has not published for your AppID.

G4 - Engine path honesty (15 min)

If you use Godot, open the Godot Frame playbook and note your export lane. If you use Unity/Unreal, note OpenXR/Android XR/Linux targets in one sentence. Engine day-one support is necessary context, not a Verified result.

G5 - Input and launcher checklist (paper smoke)

Without a kit, still list:

• Default controller config covers all content?
• Glyphs match Frame or Xbox naming when Frame controls are active?
• Launchers controller-navigable?
• Any “unsupported GPU” dialogs that would fire on SteamOS?

Mark each Unknown / Likely Pass / Likely Fail. Kit night converts Likely to evidence.

G6 - File the keep/hold

Choose one:

• KEEP lab — continue Frame evaluation; no public Verified claim
• HOLD SKU — remove Frame Verified language from store/press until review results exist
• KEEP claim — only if Valve published Verified for your build and your smoke matches the live bar

Most mid-August indie teams land KEEP lab + HOLD SKU.

Developer path - G1–G6 with hardware or SteamVR overlay

When you have a Frame, DevKit, or at least SteamVR’s Performance Assessment Overlay (called out on the Steamworks page), deepen the smoke.

Performance smoke (VR)

1. Pin a throwaway branch named frame-verified-smoke.
2. Set a target of 1728×1728 (or document the exact render scale you use and why).
3. Play a representative “normal play” loop for 10–15 minutes — not a static menu.
4. Record min/avg FPS from the Performance Assessment Overlay or your engine profiler.
5. Note whether you submit motion vectors + depth.

PASS: Sustained ≥72 fps at the documented resolution during the loop.
HOLD: Dips under 72 in combat/crowds — optimize or lower quality defaults before chasing Verified.
Unsupported risk: Effective resolution under 1440 — fix before any badge hope.

Flatscreen smoke (2D on Frame)

1. Target 1280×720 default.
2. Hold ≥30 fps in normal play.
3. Confirm controller-first UI and glyph honesty.

Input smoke

1. Boot with Frame controllers (or interaction profile equivalent).
2. Confirm default config reaches all content without opening settings.
3. Confirm glyphs are Frame or Xbox-family — not keyboard glyphs while holding Frame controls.
4. Prefer Steam Input API so glyphs stay correct across devices.

Proton vs native

If you ship Windows-only:

• Expect Proton path on Frame’s Linux OS.
• Track Proton-specific blockers as Unsupported risks until Valve/your patch clears them.
• Consider a native Linux Arm64 build when your engine path supports it (see Godot playbook).

Seamlessness traps

• Remove or gate OS/GPU “unsupported” warnings that fire falsely on SteamOS.
• Make launchers fully controller navigable — or remove the launcher for Frame builds.
• Remember: review results do not delist you; they change presentation. Bad presentation still kills wishlist conversion.

KEEP / HOLD decision matrix

CapEx four-liner

1. Status: Evaluating Steam Frame Standalone Verified against live Steamworks criteria (72fps@1728 VR; 30fps@720p 2D).
2. Evidence: Dated compat-page paste + optional kit overlay log on branch frame-verified-smoke.
3. Ship default: HOLD public “Steam Frame Verified” claims until Valve publishes Verified for our AppID and smoke matches.
4. Trigger to adopt claims: Published Verified + matching build ID + signed allowed-strings list.

Paste the four-liner into diligence zips so finance and marketing share one decision sentence before summer ad spend.

Discord-ready brief

Steam Frame Verified (Aug 2026) - evening receipt
LIVE bar (Steamworks): VR ≥72fps @ 1728x1728; <1440 → Unsupported
NOT the bar: GDC 90fps folklore
Program: standalone LOCAL play (not PC stream)
Tonight: KEEP lab / HOLD SKU until kit smoke + Valve review
Engine day-one support ≠ Verified badge

Failure modes

Worked example - mid-size VR indie

Wrong August plan: Update the Steam page with “Steam Frame Verified — 90 fps ready,” point at Godot 4.7 release notes, skip resolution notes.

Right August plan:

1. Paste Steamworks 72@1728 into CapEx (G1).
2. Run overlay smoke on a disposable branch; fail combat spike at 61 fps → HOLD claim.
3. Add foveation / quality defaults; re-smoke to ≥72.
4. Ship motion vectors + depth as recommended — still do not claim 90 native.
5. Wait for Valve review results before using the Verified word publicly.
6. Keep Machine and Deck claims on their own receipts.

Company diligence questions

Ask partners (or yourself) before Frame ad spend:

1. Which Steamworks paragraph did you cite, and on what date?
2. Is the claim about standalone local or stream?
3. Do you have a dated FPS/resolution log for normal play?
4. What badge does the partner site show today — Verified, Playable, Unsupported, or Unknown?
5. Who owns the allowed marketing strings list?

If answers are vague, HOLD spend.

Format ladder

Week-two after KEEP lab

1. Re-open Steamworks — confirm the bar did not change.
2. Expand smoke from one combat loop to a full mission.
3. Audit store trailers and Discord pins for obsolete 90fps lines.
4. If Godot, complete export S-gates on the Frame playbook without renaming them Verified.
5. Do not stack Machine Verified marketing rewrites the same week unless Machine is a separate receipt owner.

Sample receipt schema (documentation)

{
  "receipt": "steam_frame_verified_keep_hold_v1",
  "as_of": "2026-08-17",
  "steamworks_compat_url": "https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/steamhardware/steamframe/compat",
  "cited_vr_bar": "72fps@1728x1728",
  "cited_vr_unsupported_floor": "1440x1440",
  "product_class": "vr_standalone_local | flatscreen_standalone | stream_only",
  "gates": {
    "G1_docs_paste": "PASS",
    "G2_product_class": "PASS",
    "G3_allowed_strings": "PASS",
    "G4_engine_path_note": "PASS",
    "G5_input_launcher_paper": "PARTIAL",
    "G6_keep_hold": "KEEP_lab_HOLD_sku"
  },
  "kit_smoke": {
    "ran": false,
    "min_fps": null,
    "resolution": null,
    "motion_vectors_depth": "unknown"
  },
  "valve_published_badge": "Unknown",
  "notes": "No public Verified claim until kit + partner review align."
}

Do not latch steam_frame_verified_ok: true unless Valve shows Verified and your smoke matches the live bar for that build.

Contractor script

When someone proposes “add Steam Frame Verified to the capsule this sprint”:

1. Ask for the Steamworks paragraph date they cited.
2. Ask whether the claim is local standalone or stream.
3. Require G1–G3 before any store text PR.
4. Reject 90fps Verified copy on sight.

If they cannot open the partner page, they are not ready to touch marketing.

Relation to Great on Frame shelf growth

Shelf growth means players will browse Frame-friendly titles more often. It does not mean Valve auto-Verified your game. Treat Great on Frame as competitive pressure: more visible Verified peers, higher expectation that your page tells the truth.

Comparison - Frame vs Deck vs Machine (one glance)

Never paste one program’s badge language onto another device’s ad unit.

Key takeaways

• Steam Frame Verified for VR currently means ≥72 fps at 1728×1728 during normal play on Steamworks — not GDC 90fps folklore (compat docs, Road to VR).
• Below 1440×1440 VR is Unsupported.
• 2D standalone uses a separate 30 fps @ 1280×720 floor.
• The program covers local standalone, not PC streaming to Frame.
• KEEP lab / HOLD SKU is the default honest mid-August decision until kit smoke and Valve review align.
• Engine day-one support and Machine/Deck Verified are different receipts.

FAQ

Is Steam Frame Verified still 90 fps?

No. Live Steamworks partner documentation specifies 72 fps at 1728×1728 for VR titles. Treat press corrections as a reminder to re-read the primary page.

Does motion vector + depth make me Verified at 90 Hz?

No. Those submissions help optional reprojection. Verified still keys off the published native performance floor for normal play.

Can I claim Verified after a good Steam Link session?

No. Compatibility review is for local Frame play, not streamed PC VR.

What if I only ship flatscreen on Frame?

Use the 2D floor: 30 fps at 1280×720, plus input/seamlessness gates.

Does Unsupported mean players cannot buy my game on Frame?

Steamworks states results affect presentation, not whether the game is available. Unsupported still hurts conversion and trust.

How is this different from Steam Machine Verified?

Machine Verified / Great on Machine is the living-room Steam Machine program. Frame Verified is the headset standalone program. Keep separate matrices — see Steam Machine Verified.

How is this different from Godot day-one Frame support?

Godot documents export paths. This page documents badge criteria and marketing honesty. You need both for a complete Frame diligence pack.

Should we register for reviews before optimizing?

Optimize defaults toward the live floor first. Submitting a known-fail resolution or FPS profile wastes review cycles and earns Playable/Unsupported presentation you then have to unwind.

Related reading

• Stop Quoting Steam Frame 90 FPS Verified - Read Steamworks Instead 2026 — opinion refusal ritual for obsolete 90fps quotes (not this G1–G6 keep/hold)
• 12 Free Steam Frame Verification Tools After Great on Frame - 2026 — free toolkit companion (not this keep/hold decision night)
• Godot Steam Frame Day-One Support - Indie XR Playbook 2026
• Steam Machine Verified - What Indies Should Lock After Great on Machine 2026
• 14 Free Steam Deck Verification Tools After Proton 11 - 2026
• Your First Proton 11 Steam Deck Verify Pass - One Evening 2026
• Steam guide hub