A new beta update for Steam adds a robust and useful gameplay recording tool to the popular PC launcher, letting you record, edit, and share amazing moments or horrible mistakes with ease on both desktop and Steam Deck.
When Steam first launched in 2003 it was just a way to update some Valve games like Half-Life 2 and buy digital titles. But now, 20 years later, Steam has evolved into a large platform that includes forums, mods, DLC, streaming, and the ability to share guides and screenshots with other players. And you can now add gameplay capture to the long list of things Steam can do.
Announced on June 26, Steam Game Recording is a new suite of tools and features that will let players easily record gameplay in any game, even non-Steam games. As long as Steam is open and the overlay works, you can record gameplay footage of any game.
Before you start messing around with all the cool new recording and editing tools, you’ll need to opt into the Steam beta branch. Just head to the Steam menu, go to settings, and then interface, and from there select either of the beta options. Steam will then restart and, bam, you’ll be able to record yourself dying 200 times to an Elden Ring boss.
All you can do with Steam’s new video recording tool
Valve has launched the new Game Recording tool (which it says is still in beta) with a bunch of useful options. You can have Steam always recording in the background when playing a game and you can also limit how much space these recordings can take up before Valve starts to overwrite the recorded footage. Valve suggests this could let you go back and clip—using basic editing tools included in Steam—a cool moment or even let you go back to see what an NPC said about a sidequest. You can also set up Game Recording to record clips manually, too.
Some games—currently only DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike 2—will also be able to add custom markers to your gameplay’s timeline, making it easy to edit together montages of headshots or wins.
Even better, you and your recordings aren’t trapped within Steam. Valve will let you easily export any clip or recording as a raw .mp4 that you can edit and alter using third-party software. You can even share clips with other Steam users via chat or a QR code. You can also send clips recorded on your Steam Deck to your PC for easy editing later. And yes, all of this works on Steam Deck, making the handheld PC even more useful.
This is just another example of how Valve has continued to make Steam the best PC store launcher out there by a huge margin. Even though I want games to launch on more platforms and PC stores, I understand why so many people prefer Valve’s software. It’s free, easy to use, and always getting better.
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