As nautical stabbist remake Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced heaves into view of its July 9th release date, it’s already secured one piece of treasure. Namely, a full Steam Deck Verified badge, the highest honour Valve bestows upon games that don’t falter, fumble, or otherwise snap in half when faced with the SteamOS handheld PC.

It’s a higher rating than the Playable badge Valve previously granted the original, less glossy Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, on the grounds of it committing misdemeanours like showing incorrect controller glyphs and not automatically opening the onscreen keyboard. What a scallywag, eh. I believe this also makes Black Flag Resynced the first, air-quotes “big” game since the Steam Machine launch to simultaneously get full verification for that bigger, squarer PC as well – as Steam Deck Verified games inherently have all the compatibility chops to work across other, more powerful SteamOS devices.

Other preceding AssCreeds have endured mixed, but still mostly decent, fortunes on the low-powered Deck. The series’ return to Steam in 2022 made them easier to run, without as much Ubisoft Connect fiddling, and although Playable certifications have been handed out more often than the coveted green checkmark of Verified status, the most recent Assassin’s Creed Shadows proved surprisingly worthy of the latter. Despite, originally, Ubisoft not planning to bother making it Deck-compatible at all.

Uncertainty remains, however, about how exactly Black Flag Resynced will perform within handheld confines. Earning Verification status only requires a game be capable of running at 30fps on the Deck’s 800p screen, and the game’s technical solidity is suspect after Julian spent so much time in his preview having to swat away bugs. Valve are evidently convinced, though waiting for some testing on the launch build seems prudent.

Likewise for the Steam Machine, if you’re one of the lucky devils who nabbed one in the initial batch of randomised order shipments. Maybe I’ll have a go myself, now that I’ve rebuilt my Machine from the deskful of tiny pieces it was in.