A user has discovered signs of a potentially upcoming feature for Steam that is supposed to prevent FPS issues.
In February 2026, Valve released a beta version of Steam that allowed Valve to collect data regarding your frame rate. Steam then observed how many FPS you had in a game.
At that time, Valve stated that this information would help to learn more about game compatibility and improve Steam. The feature was primarily aimed at devices running SteamOS. However, a Steam user has recently noticed that some new features have been added to the beta version.
Steam might estimate your FPS in the future
What is this feature? As explained by the user on Resetera, these new features could indicate a feature on Steam that provides an estimate of the expected frame rate in a game.
The feature is titled “Framerate Estimator” in an attached screenshot:
The screenshot also shows that for the potentially upcoming feature, you will likely have to provide various details about your system such as the CPU or GPU you are using, as well as select a specific game.
Subsequently, the feature would likely present you with an estimate of how many FPS you could achieve in that particular game.
What benefit does this have? Many games are not perfectly optimized upon release and have performance issues. This is particularly frustrating for full-price titles, as you pay a lot of money and then receive a game that has low FPS or even stutters to your liking.
To avoid wasting money on poorly optimized games, it makes sense to find out how many FPS you could expect in a particular game beforehand. However, for inexperienced users, it is often difficult to determine how well a game runs on their gaming PC. While there are various sources for benchmarks, this often involves quite a bit of research across various websites. Additionally, there’s the problem that the hardware used in the tests may differ significantly, making it hard to deliver a reliable result.
Steam could provide a straightforward solution here. The estimates would likely be based on the collected information from the numerous Steam users, putting an end to the search for a test with comparable hardware.
The most reliable impression of how well a game runs on your PC is still obtained by testing it yourself. Steam also has an easy solution for you, so you don’t throw money out the window. More on this here: Returning a game on Steam – It’s that easy
