News

Nov 07, 2024

Steam Game Recording finally lets you capture footage on Steam

Valve is adding a game record function to Steam, one that also works on Steam Deck, and it only took 20 years. The feature, officially called Steam Game Recording, was in beta testing, but it’s

Valve is adding a game record function to Steam, one that also works on Steam Deck, and it only took 20 years. The feature, officially called Steam Game Recording, was in beta testing, but it’s available now for all Steam users.

Valve’s recording tool comes with quite a few options for how you record and what you do with it afterward. Steam Game Recording lets you record manually, so you decide when it starts and stops, or you can have it running in the background so it captures everything you do. It lets you add parameters so the function doesn’t eat your entire storage device as well, which is handy.

You can use a quick replay option to rewind to a specific time and add markers for important points so you don’t forget. Valve also said some “timeline-enhanced games” will include custom markers of their own by alerting Steam when something of significance happens, but the company didn’t say what some of those games might be.

Steam Game Recording lets you save clips and share them online or between your phone and PC, and it comes with what Valve says is a more user-friendly version of Steam’s media manager, which includes the option to convert your chosen media to MP4 format.

Valve said in the blog post announcing Steam Game Recording that the function works even with non-Steam games, so long as they work with Steam overlay.

It’s about time Valve adds something like this. Previously, your only options for recording footage on Steam involved using third-party software, such as Nvidia’s Shadowplay or OBS Studio. Shadowplay is fine, but awkward and has few features for managing recordings or clips, and OBS is a bit fiddly at the best of times.

Josh is a freelance writer and reporter who specializes in guides, reviews, and whatever else he can convince someone to commission. You may have seen him on NPR, IGN, Polygon, or Rolling Stone shouting about RPGs. When he isn’t working, you’ll likely find him outside with his Belgian Malinois and Australian Shepherd or leveling yet another job in FFXIV.

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