Spider-Man 2 Loses "Verified" Status on Steam Deck

Image: Spider-Man 2 on Steam Deck

Spider-Man 2, Sony's major PlayStation-to-PC release, has been downgraded from "Steam Deck Verified" to merely "Playable" on Valve's handheld gaming device. This change comes just months after the game's PC launch in late January.

"Playable" rating indicates Steam Deck users might need to make manual adjustments to get the game running smoothly. This is confirmed by a warning on the game's Steam page stating: "This game requires manual configuration of graphics settings to perform well on the Steam Deck."

Valve's Steam Deck Compatibility program uses a three-tier rating system to help users understand how well games will run on the portable device:

• "Verified" means games work perfectly with default settings

• "Playable" indicates minor issues or required manual adjustments

• "Unsupported" means the game cannot run due to hardware limitations or compatibility issues

A fourth category, "Unknown," simply means Valve hasn't evaluated the title yet.

The compatibility ratings are particularly important because the "Great on Deck" category serves as the default Steam store view for the device. Compatibility ratings can change over time, though they typically improve as developers enhance compatibility rather than decline.

What makes this situation unusual is seeing a high-profile game like Spider-Man 2 get downgraded. As per reports by KitGuru, this rarely happens, especially with system-selling titles from major publishers.

Interestingly, the downgrade comes shortly after Spider-Man 2 received a major patch about a week ago. This update supposedly improved visual performance and fixed issues with certain AMD systems. It's possible that Valve reassessed the game after this patch and determined it no longer met their "Verified" standards.

Meanwhile, the original Spider-Man Remastered and Miles Morales games, which were initially released on PS4 before coming to PC, retain their "Steam Deck Verified" status at this time. These older titles presumably require less processing power and run more smoothly on the Steam Deck's laptop-grade hardware.

For Steam Deck owners looking forward to swinging through New York as Peter Parker, this doesn't mean the game is unplayable – just that they'll need to tweak some graphics settings to find the sweet spot between performance and visual quality.