I wasn’t immediately sure who the latest Steam client beta update, which allows Steam review writers to optionally attach their hardware specs and anonymised framerate data, was for. The reviewers? Not unless they want to inadvertently reveal that the reason they aren’t getting 360fps in Space Marine 2 is because they’re trying to run it on a 3DFX Voodoo Banshee. Developers? Performance data could be useful but if I ran a QA department, I’d want that coming from observable tests, not from the bottom of a slur-filled missive from ViperSniper69 (0.2hrs on record).
Then I read the words “This feature is currently in Beta with a focus on devices running SteamOS,” and realised: this is for Valve themselves. A devious ploy to record how thousands of hitherto unbenchmarked games run on the Steam Deck and, eventually, the new Steam Machine.
