The beloved RPG is officially greenlit
Another RPG got its green checkmark on Valve’s portable PC today. Persona 4 Golden is now categorized as Verified on the Steam Deck.
The change is visible on Valve’s storefront, as noticed by Wario64. Though previous reports had noted Persona 4 Golden was playable, the life-sim RPG is now fully Verified to work on Steam Deck through Valve’s own metrics.
Persona 4 Golden now categorized as Verified for Steam Deck pic.twitter.com/GpMm1e1iFF
— Wario64 (@Wario64) May 3, 2022
The distinction is an interesting one. Valve has been slowly, steadily working to verify games on Steam as either Deck compatible or incompatible. Its criteria ranges from functionality, like everything accessible with the default controller configuration, to showing Deck icons and legible text. It also tests for whether the default graphics option performs well on the Steam Deck.
Essentially, the Verified program is Valve’s way of letting prospective buyers know how a game will run on the Deck.
Getting the checkmark
If that sounds like a certification process, well, it’s not all that dissimilar. The Deck isn’t a PC after all, so some games might run into issues or need additional functionality.
The Verified process has also been steadily rolling on over the last few months. One month into the launch of Valve’s Steam Deck, there were already 2,000 games verified as playable on the Deck. It’s a pretty hefty number of games, though Steam is a pretty expansive platform.
As more handhelds roll off the manufacturing line and into the hands of pre-order holders, it’ll be good to know whether sought-after games like Persona 4 Golden run well on the Steam Deck.
And I mean, Persona 4 Golden is the kind of game you want to play on the Steam Deck. Valve’s handheld PC might just rekindle that PlayStation Vita-era fire for handheld RPGs. As for the other Persona games, well, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax also just recently launched on Steam. As for the other Personas, you’re on your own for now.
