The latest Steam beta lets you give Valve your frame rate data, focusing on SteamOS devices to 'learn about game compatibility'

With the oncoming approach of multiple Valve devices and the wider adoption of SteamOS, Valve is looking to collect frame rate data in the hopes of improving compatibility.

As mentioned in the recent Steam client beta patch notes, it has "Added the option to provide anonymized frame rate data. When enabled, Steam will collect gameplay frame rate data, stored without connection to your Steam account but identified with the kind of hardware you are playing on."

Reportedly, the data gained will help Valve improve game compatibility and Steam, in return. Valve says, "This feature is currently in beta with a focus on devices running SteamOS."

There's no word yet on when it will prompt users to collect that data, but we assume it will be linked to Steam's performance overlay program.

The mention of SteamOS is interesting, given that the Steam Machine is reported to launch this year and uses the same OS. Though Valve can do internal testing on prototype Steam Machines, it can get access to broader swathes of data using the general public. Limiting it to SteamOS means Valve can remove some of the performance differences that come from your choice of OS.

Outside of the Steam Deck, SteamOS is also natively available on the Legion Go S, though Valve says it is "working on broadening support, and with the recent updates to Steam and SteamOS, compatibility with other AMD-powered PC handhelds has been improved."

Valve has a full list of SteamOS-supported devices on its website, alongside a guide on how to install the OS. PC is, unfortunately, missing from that list. While we don't have official PC support for SteamOS, you can install it if you're willing to tinker, and Bazzite does approximate the experience (in the words of our own Joshua Wolens).

In order to join the Steam client beta, you simply have to go into settings, then hit 'Interface', followed by 'Client Beta Participation' and 'Steam Beta Update'. You then must restart Steam to join the beta. It's pretty simple.

As well as this change, the Steam client beta adds the option to attach hardware specs to user reviews, which means you can pick out users with similar rigs to estimate your performance (or guess when someone is blaming the game instead of their underperforming rig).

Overall, these are two big changes that will likely add to the quality of Steam long-term.