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Valve's headquarters is cooking something big, as the company has unveiled new branding guidelines for "Powered by SteamOS" as it prepares to expand SteamOS support for third-party handhelds and PCs. The branding guidelines include various cases. First in line is for games, which can carry a "Steam" logotype, showing that the game is available and runs on Steam. Next up is the "Steam Included" logo, which officially certifies that a hardware product comes with the Steam client pre-installed. To display this logo, manufacturers must comply with Valve's Steam Client Distribution Agreement and integrate the Steam client in its approved form—either as a bootloader or fully compiled software. What we are most interested in is the "Powered by SteamOS" logo, which certifies that a hardware device runs SteamOS as its primary operating system and launches directly into SteamOS when powered on, requiring hardware manufacturers and partners to use the official Steam system image either provided directly by Valve or developed in close partnership with Valve.
The "Steam Compatible" logo certifies that a third-party input peripheral has been reviewed by Valve and meets their established compatibility criteria for use with Steam on PCs, with manufacturers receiving licensing rights after Valve's verification of the device's implementation. Finally, the "Steam Play Here" logo identifies brick-and-mortar establishments with access to Steam games through the Steam PC Café Server, including commercial PC cafés, university computer labs, libraries, and trade shows, allowing these locations to promote their Steam gaming capabilities through window displays and interior signage, with all participating venues required to operate under the official Steam PC Café system guidelines.
All of these branding guidelines are coming in at an interesting time, when Valve is trying to keep its Steam Machine dream alive. Recent SteamOS 3.6.19 update notably included expanded support for competitors' hardware, such as additional ROG Ally keys and various third-party controllers like the ASUS ROG Raikiri Pro and Machenike G5 Pro. This will allow more hardware makers to join SteamOS handheld PCs and drive more developers to the SteamOS platform for games and optimizations. We can't wait to see what comes out next, so stay tuned as we follow the adventure.
View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
The "Steam Compatible" logo certifies that a third-party input peripheral has been reviewed by Valve and meets their established compatibility criteria for use with Steam on PCs, with manufacturers receiving licensing rights after Valve's verification of the device's implementation. Finally, the "Steam Play Here" logo identifies brick-and-mortar establishments with access to Steam games through the Steam PC Café Server, including commercial PC cafés, university computer labs, libraries, and trade shows, allowing these locations to promote their Steam gaming capabilities through window displays and interior signage, with all participating venues required to operate under the official Steam PC Café system guidelines.
All of these branding guidelines are coming in at an interesting time, when Valve is trying to keep its Steam Machine dream alive. Recent SteamOS 3.6.19 update notably included expanded support for competitors' hardware, such as additional ROG Ally keys and various third-party controllers like the ASUS ROG Raikiri Pro and Machenike G5 Pro. This will allow more hardware makers to join SteamOS handheld PCs and drive more developers to the SteamOS platform for games and optimizations. We can't wait to see what comes out next, so stay tuned as we follow the adventure.
View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
