We have just shipped an updated Steam Deck Client to the Preview/Beta channel.
General
Improved client performance when there are many unread account notifications pending.
The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes:
General
Improved client performance when there are many unread account notifications pending.
*hey, we rhymed!
You can officially start adding Steam Controller to cart on May 4th, and we're excited for folks to get their hands on it (pun intended). You can learn more about Steam Controller (and bookmark it for when purchasing opens) on the official product page, but we thought it would be fun to do a quick intro here as well.
This controller is packed with a ton of capabilities, so we wanted to take a moment to introduce you to what we think makes it so great.
Steam Controller is designed with all the inputs for you to play all your games on Steam, however you like to play. PC? Check. Laptop? Check. Steam Deck, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame? Check, check, and check. All the inputs you’d expect for a typical gamepad are right where you’d expect them, and we spent a lot of time ensuring they feel comfy in your hands for extended play session. And all the extra inputs? Ready and waiting for you when you want to use them.
Upgrades!
The Steam Controller uses next-generation magnetic thumbsticks with TMR technology. Designed for an improved feel, responsiveness, and long-term reliability, they also support capacitive touch for motion controls.
Also, it comes with a puck. The Steam Controller puck has two jobs: it provides a fast and stable connection as a wireless transmitter and serves as your main charging station, connecting magnetically to your Controller with a super-satisfying click.
Advanced Inputs for gaming flexibility and performance
We wanted to make sure to highlight the advanced inputs in this controller that really give you the power and flexibility to play how you want:
Trackpads
Gyro
Grip Sense
Grip buttons
We're highlighting some of the main features of Trackpads, Gyro, and Grip Sense below; but we'll also provide a more in-depth look for each of them in the coming weeks as we share their user guides, as well as details on ways you can customize these features for your experience.
Why trackpads?
Many games on PC are intended to be used with a mouse (think FPS, puzzle games, point-and-click adventures, and deck builders, in addition to a lot of older games). The trackpads on Steam Controller provide an enormous amount of flexibility for playing, especially in their ability to act as a mouse replacement for these kinds of games. They're highly precise and customizable, which allows you to dial them in whether for a cozy puzzle game or a highly competitive shooter.
Besides just using them as a mouse, in Steam Input you have the option to map them as many other things as well, like button clusters, joystick, virtual menus, and more.
Gyro seems cool; what does that mean on Steam Controller?
Gyroscopes and accelerometers aren't new to gaming (nor to Valve devices), but more recently the growth of the gyro gaming community (specifically those who really "dial it in" for competitive games) has helped drive the technology forward. The gyroscope is a highly precise sensor that detects the rotation of the entire controller, meaning as you're gaming with your Steam Controller you can find yourself aiming, controlling cameras, steering wheels, and flight yokes with the tilt of the wrists.
We have a whole step-by-step guide for getting the most out of the gyro on Steam Controller that we'll be sharing soon on the product page. You should check it out!
But first-- we can't talk about gyro on Steam Controller without talking about Grip Sense.
Wait, what is Grip Sense?
Grip Sense is what we're calling the new input that uses capacitive touch sensors to sense if you're holding the handles. There is one sensor in each handle of the Steam Controller. The primary use for this is to enable/disable Gyro quickly so you can reset your position when you get to the edge of your comfortable zone (called "ratcheting"). Kind of like when you reach the end of your mousepad and pick up your mouse to recenter it.
You can even map Grip Sense like any other button! We love using it to pull up menus, weapon wheels, and even pause the game when you put the controller down.
Grip Buttons
Grip buttons give you 4 extra, easy to use buttons for you to map whatever you want to. They are most especially useful when mapped to ABXY: you never have to move your thumb off the right stick or trackpad, allowing you to maintain precision at all times.
Powered by Steam Input
The Steam Controller and Steam Input would swipe right on each other if they could. (That's a terrible pun that just means they're a great match.) Using all the customization tools we provide in Steam Input Configurator, you can customize the Steam Controller however you want. The possibilities are limitless! (Well technically there is a finite amount of possibilities but it’s a really big number – it lets you do some crazy things)
Bonus cool factor with this? Steam Controller will be pre-populated with community configurations for thousands of games out-of-the box, and a good chunk of that is thanks to the hard work done by developers and the community for Steam Deck. You can also make and share your own!
More to come
We'll have more posts leading up to launch and beyond including how to guides, deeper looks at how we arrived at some of the features we did (including Grip Sense), and tips for things like traveling with your Steam Controller, different connectivity modes, and more.
The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes:
General
Added a low battery level toast for wireless gamepads
Big Picture Mode
Added a battery indicator to the header for wireless gamepads
Fixed issue with controller battery status links in the Quick Access Menu not returning to the correct place.
Fixed several navigation issues with controller settings.
macOS
Fixed soundtrack playback not working on Apple Silicon machines.
We have just shipped an updated Steam Deck Client to the Preview/Beta channel.
General
Added a low battery level toast for wireless gamepads
Added a battery indicator to the header for wireless gamepads
Fixed issue with controller battery status links in the Quick Access Menu not returning to the correct place.
Fixed several navigation issues with controller settings.
We have just shipped an updated Steam Deck Client to the Preview/Beta channel.
General
Updated localization.
The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes:
General
Updated localization.
We have just shipped an updated Steam Deck Client to the Preview/Beta channel.
Remote Play
Added feedback if capture can't be started on the remote computer
The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes:
Remote Play
Added feedback if capture can't be started on the remote computer
Find yourself immersed in medieval times playing the games we're celebrating on Steam this week: Steam Medieval Fest is April 20th through 27th, and there are discounts and demos of all kinds.
You can protect your crown; expand your dynasty; even run a tavern for travelers. There are many ways to play games that take place way back when: from open world survivals to adventures, city builders to sims, and more.
Join us now for Steam Medieval Fest, packed with discounts and demos through April 27th at 10 am Pacific on Steam.
We have just shipped an updated Steam Deck Client to the Preview/Beta channel.
General
Fixed on-screen keyboard stealing focus from chat textbox when touched or clicked.
Fixed a case where the input textbox is not focused when opening a chat.
Fixed the Voice chat tab of the QAM not being hidden after exiting all active voice chats.
Fixed spell check not working in certain browsers.
Steam Input
Fixed a case where the controller calibration screen could fail to load the correct values the first time it is opened.
The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes:
General
Fixed spell check not working in certain browsers.
Big Picture Mode
Fixed on-screen keyboard stealing focus from chat textbox when touched or clicked.
Fixed a case where the input textbox is not focused when opening a chat.
Fixed the Voice chat tab of the QAM not being hidden after exiting all active voice chats.
Steam Input
Fixed a case where the controller calibration screen could fail to load the correct values the first time it is opened.
SteamOS 3.7.21 has just been released for all users with the following changes:
General
Security and stability updates
Note: This update is for the Steam Deck Beta and Preview channels, and includes new features that are still being tested. You can opt into this in Settings > System > System Update Channel.
These notes contain all changes since the current stable SteamOS 3.7 release, with those additional changes since the previous 3.8.1 Beta:
New in 3.8.2
Fixed a regression that could cause Borderlands 2 to crash on startup on certain systems
Fixed trackpad losing functionality after sleep/resume on the Legion Go
Security updates to Flatpak, libpng and openssl
General
Fixed a case where WiFi performance could become degraded until the device was put to sleep or manually reconnected
Fixed excessive trackpad sensitivity on certain early Steam Deck LCD models
Initial support for upcoming Steam Machine hardware
Updated Arch system base
Updated graphics driver with performance and stability fixes
Fixed a case where per-app performance settings would intermittently fail to apply when launching a game
Improved support for the screencasts in Game Mode (e.g. OBS/Discord)
Fixed dropdown menus not appearing in some games
Improved VRR frame pacing
Fixed FSR badge remaining off in the performance overlay, even if it was actually active
Improved support for games that attempt to open PDF files in external viewers
Fixed an issue affecting certain titles (such as "SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide") where the game window could have an incorrect position
Fixed closing certain titles (such as "STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor™") and Starfield resulting in a session crash
Improved support for certain USB racing wheels and USB devices that boot in a non-standard mode
Frequently these are devices that appear as USB storage devices with a driver installer, and must be switched to their normal mode by the OS
Steam Deck controller firmware updates now display update progress on the splash screen
Fixes issue on specific Steam Deck revisions where firmware updates could render the left controller inoperative for that session
Numerous stability and security updates
Bluetooth
Re-re-enable Bluetooth Wake for Steam Deck LCD
Fix for more spurious wake issues that were present in earlier attempts
Audio
Detect HDMI channel count and expose surround configuration if available
Add a setting to allow using Bluetooth headset mics (Bluetooth playback quality will be worse while capture is active)
Restore internal audio device on reboot if set to "Off" in desktop mode
Increase suspend timeout for HDMI devices so initial audio isn't cut off after a few seconds of inactivity
Fixed a bug with switching input devices when a wired headset is plugged in
Fixed an issue where audio underruns could be experienced after sleep/resume
Accessibility
Added an option to force mono audio output
Desktop Mode
KDE Plasma updated to version 6.4.3 from 6.2.5, and now uses wayland by default
Fixes several cases of reduced performance in Desktop Mode compared to Game Mode
Improved support for rotated displays
Better scale factor out of the box on TVs
Adds support for external HDR displays
Adds support for VRR displays
Adds support per-display scale factor
For more information, see Plasma release announcements
Keyboard layout and language are now obeying Game Mode settings
Improved windowing behavior for games running in Proton
System Firmware
Includes Steam Deck LCD BIOS v133
Security updates
Added "Memory Power Down" setup option
Preliminary support for hibernation
Includes Steam Deck OLED BIOS v114
Security updates
Charging LED now changes color when charge limit is reached, rather than only at 100%
Non-Deck
Improved compatibility with recent Intel and AMD platforms
Greatly improved video memory management with discrete GPU platforms
Fixed a compatibility issue with the SteamOS chainloader that could cause a boot failure on some desktop systems with recent UEFI firmware
Power button short and long presses now supported across a wide variety of devices
Improved controller support for OneXPlayer F1 series, GPD Win 5, GPD Win Mini, Anbernic Win600, OrangePi NEO, and Lenovo Legion Go
Added controller support for OneXPlayer X1 series and Lenovo Legion Go 2
Added system and controller firmware update support for the Lenovo Legion Go 2
Added preliminary charge limiting support for Legion Go, Legion Go S, and Legion Go 2 - currently only accessible in Desktop Mode
Added controller RGB LED color settings for the Lenovo Legion Go 2
Added controller, TDP control, and speaker audio support for the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally series
Reduced handheld controller input latency from 5-8ms to 100-500us
Night mode, color vibrance, and color temperature sliders in Steam now work on Z2E and later AMD APUs
Seamless boot fixes for Z2E and later AMD APUs
Automatically handle internally rotated display for some third-party handhelds
Improved motion control support for handhelds with BMI260 IMUs
SD card reliability improvements for some third-party handhelds, including ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, Legion Go 1, Legion Go S, Legion Go 2, and MSI Claw
Fixed washed out colors for Zotac and OneXPlayer handhelds with OLED
Fixed some GPU hangs on Phoenix APU devices (Tales of Arise, Octopath Traveler II)
Fixed ASUS ROG Ally power consumption from fingerprint reader while shut down
Developer
Desktop Mode now uses Wayland by default
X11 support may still be selected via Steam developer settings, or via `steamosctl`
Updated Linux kernel to 6.16
Steam now uses steamos-manager to query available desktop sessions and trigger desktop session switching
Added support for setting the desktop password in developer settings
Initial support for running as a Virtual Machine guest (virtio guest drivers)
Added support for third-party devices to trigger the SteamOS boot menu via EFI variable
Added `custom-update` verb to `atomupd-manager` for easier testing of specific builds
System reports now include more audio debug information
Initial support for LAVD CPU scheduler via `steamosctl set-cpu-scheduler lavd`
We have just shipped an updated Steam Deck Client to the Preview/Beta channel.
The Steam Deck Client has been updated again on April 11th to fix a launch failure with certain titles.
General
Additional improvements for captive portals.
The Steam Client Beta has been updated again on April 11th to fix a launch failure with certain titles on Linux.
The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes:
General
Added System Report button to the Help section on Windows.
SteamRT3 Beta
Fixed a case where the ~/.steam/root symlink would fail to be created at client startup.
Note: This update is for the Steam Deck Beta and Preview channels, and includes new features that are still being tested. You can opt into this in Settings > System > System Update Channel.
These notes contain all changes since the current stable SteamOS 3.7 release, with no changes added since the 3.8.1 preview
General
Fixed a case where WiFi performance could become degraded until the device was put to sleep or manually reconnected
Fixed excessive trackpad sensitivity on certain early Steam Deck LCD models
Initial support for upcoming Steam Machine hardware
Updated Arch system base
Updated graphics driver with performance and stability fixes
Fixed a case where per-app performance settings would intermittently fail to apply when launching a game
Improved support for the screencasts in Game Mode (e.g. OBS/Discord)
Fixed dropdown menus not appearing in some games
Improved VRR frame pacing
Fixed FSR badge remaining off in the performance overlay, even if it was actually active
Improved support for games that attempt to open PDF files in external viewers
Fixed an issue affecting certain titles (such as "SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide") where the game window could have an incorrect position
Fixed closing certain titles (such as "STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor™") and Starfield resulting in a session crash
Improved support for certain USB racing wheels and USB devices that boot in a non-standard mode
Frequently these are devices that appear as USB storage devices with a driver installer, and must be switched to their normal mode by the OS
Steam Deck controller firmware updates now display update progress on the splash screen
Fixes issue on specific Steam Deck revisions where firmware updates could render the left controller inoperative for that session
Numerous stability and security updates
Bluetooth
Re-re-enable Bluetooth Wake for Steam Deck LCD
Fix for more spurious wake issues that were present in earlier attempts
Audio
Detect HDMI channel count and expose surround configuration if available
Add a setting to allow using Bluetooth headset mics (Bluetooth playback quality will be worse while capture is active)
Restore internal audio device on reboot if set to "Off" in desktop mode
Increase suspend timeout for HDMI devices so initial audio isn't cut off after a few seconds of inactivity
Fixed a bug with switching input devices when a wired headset is plugged in
Fixed an issue where audio underruns could be experienced after sleep/resume
Accessibility
Added an option to force mono audio output
Desktop Mode
KDE Plasma updated to version 6.4.3 from 6.2.5, and now uses wayland by default
Fixes several cases of reduced performance in Desktop Mode compared to Game Mode
Improved support for rotated displays
Better scale factor out of the box on TVs
Adds support for external HDR displays
Adds support for VRR displays
Adds support per-display scale factor
For more information, see Plasma release announcements
Keyboard layout and language are now obeying Game Mode settings
Improved windowing behavior for games running in Proton
System Firmware
Includes Steam Deck LCD BIOS v133
Security updates
Added "Memory Power Down" setup option
Preliminary support for hibernation
Includes Steam Deck OLED BIOS v114
Security updates
Charging LED now changes color when charge limit is reached, rather than only at 100%
Non-Deck
Improved compatibility with recent Intel and AMD platforms
Greatly improved video memory management with discrete GPU platforms
Fixed a compatibility issue with the SteamOS chainloader that could cause a boot failure on some desktop systems with recent UEFI firmware
Power button short and long presses now supported across a wide variety of devices
Improved controller support for OneXPlayer F1 series, GPD Win 5, GPD Win Mini, Anbernic Win600, OrangePi NEO, and Lenovo Legion Go
Added controller support for OneXPlayer X1 series and Lenovo Legion Go 2
Added system and controller firmware update support for the Lenovo Legion Go 2
Added preliminary charge limiting support for Legion Go, Legion Go S, and Legion Go 2 - currently only accessible in Desktop Mode
Added controller RGB LED color settings for the Lenovo Legion Go 2
Added controller, TDP control, and speaker audio support for the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally series
Reduced handheld controller input latency from 5-8ms to 100-500us
Night mode, color vibrance, and color temperature sliders in Steam now work on Z2E and later AMD APUs
Seamless boot fixes for Z2E and later AMD APUs
Automatically handle internally rotated display for some third-party handhelds
Improved motion control support for handhelds with BMI260 IMUs
SD card reliability improvements for some third-party handhelds, including ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, Legion Go 1, Legion Go S, Legion Go 2, and MSI Claw
Fixed washed out colors for Zotac and OneXPlayer handhelds with OLED
Fixed some GPU hangs on Phoenix APU devices (Tales of Arise, Octopath Traveler II)
Fixed ASUS ROG Ally power consumption from fingerprint reader while shut down
Developer
Desktop Mode now uses Wayland by default
X11 support may still be selected via Steam developer settings, or via `steamosctl`
Updated Linux kernel to 6.16
Steam now uses steamos-manager to query available desktop sessions and trigger desktop session switching
Added support for setting the desktop password in developer settings
Initial support for running as a Virtual Machine guest (virtio guest drivers)
Added support for third-party devices to trigger the SteamOS boot menu via EFI variable
Added `custom-update` verb to `atomupd-manager` for easier testing of specific builds
System reports now include more audio debug information
Initial support for LAVD CPU scheduler via `steamosctl set-cpu-scheduler lavd`
Steam's Hidden Object Fest is live, and as you can tell from the trailer we've hidden (in plain sight) above, it's packed with discounts on games that require your keen eye.
Search through buildings, castles, rooms, piles, you name it: The objective is to find the object.
The Steam Hidden Object Fest, on now through April 13th. Go check it out now!
The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes:
Game Recording
Fixed a bug which affected taking a screenshot from a game recording clip.
We have just shipped an updated Steam Deck Client to the Preview/Beta channel.
Game Recording
Fixed a bug which affected taking a screenshot from a game recording clip.
We have just shipped an updated Steam Deck Client to the Preview/Beta channel.
Steam Input
Improved controller setting behavior when a controller is disconnected.
The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes:
Steam Input
Improved controller setting behavior when a controller is disconnected.
The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes:
Steam Input
Changed controller settings to use a menu and details structure instead of tabs to list the connected controllers.
We have just shipped an updated Steam Deck Client to the Preview/Beta channel.
General
Fixed a case where pressing the power button would enter Sleep mode instead of Display-Off Download mode.
Improved compatibility with WiFi captive portals.
Steam Input
Changed controller settings to use a menu and details structure instead of tabs to list the connected controllers.
We have just shipped an updated Steam Deck Client to the Preview/Beta channel.
Downloads
Added Remote Downloads Management. This allows you to manage downloads on Remote Steam Clients from the downloads page. You can select different clients by pressing Y on the downloads page.
The App Details page now has the same options and statuses for remote clients as the local client.
Both the local and remote clients must be updated to enable this feature.
Store Home Beta
Fixed "..." context menu in Discounts & Events section
Increased number of capsules per page in various carousels
Smoothed the Featured & Recommended carousel transitions
Updated the Recently Updated section's capsules to link to the corresponding announcement for the game
Steam Input
Fixed a case where radial menus would fail to dismiss after releasing the joystick on Steam Deck
The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes:
Downloads
Added Remote Downloads Management. This allows you to manage downloads on Remote Steam Clients from the downloads page.
The App Details page now has the same options and statuses for remote clients as the local client.
Both the local and remote clients must be updated to enable this feature.
Windows
Updated CPUID SDK used for CPU Temperature in in-game overlay performance monitor when enabled
Store Home Beta
Fixed "..." context menu in Discounts & Events section
Increased number of capsules per page in various carousels
Smoothed the Featured & Recommended carousel transitions
Updated the Recently Updated section's capsules to link to the corresponding announcement for the game
Steam Input
Fixed a case where radial menus would fail to dismiss after releasing the joystick on Steam Deck
We have just shipped an updated Steam Deck Client to the Preview/Beta channel.
General
Enabled the refreshed Steam Store home page
Updated the Store main menu option to navigate to the Steam Store home page instead of the Great On Deck hub
Cloud
Fixed an issue which could lead to data loss when uninstalling, reinstalling, and playing a game without restarting the client in between
The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes:
General
Enabled the refreshed Steam Store home page
Linux SteamRT3 Beta
Fixed Steam tray icon not showing.
Big Picture
Updated the Store main menu option to navigate to the Steam Store home page instead of the Great On Deck hub
Cloud
Fixed an issue which could lead to data loss when uninstalling, reinstalling, and playing a game without restarting the client in between
We're giving the Steam store home a refresh, and you can try it out now by opting into the latest Steam beta within your desktop client.
The updated design is our latest work in making improvements across the Steam store, like the game page updates we made a few months ago. The new layout aims to make it even easier for you to find new games by displaying more content and information. We're now displaying higher resolution game art for better visual clarity. Those of you with higher resolution monitors will notice the new store home is wider and more responsive. If you're viewing the store home on Steam Deck or in Big Picture mode you'll also see these updates.
Updates
Overall Design Refresh: Over the years we've introduced new sections and added new ways for you to discover and learn about games, and this update aims to make the store home feel more cohesive. Each section has a distinct set of tools and information to give users many ways to explore the diverse catalog of games on Steam. A goal of this visual refresh is to strike a balance between providing more consistency in UI elements, while allowing the unique nature of each section to show through.
Featured & Recommended: There is now more detailed information highlighting the reason a game is being recommended to you; plus a user review round-up. When hovering over a game's cover art, the game's micro-trailer will play for a quick peak at the action. We also added a sneak-peek of the adjacent games in the carousel.
Option to disable: Micro-trailer hovers and animated marketing assets can be disabled in Store Settings for users with motion sensitivity.
Discounts & Events: Now uses larger game artwork.
Updated Discovery Queue: A quicker way to browse titles in your Discovery Queue without leaving the page.
Better Hover States: A short description is presented along with other relevant information. The UI is updated to provide better contrast and legibility.
Infinite Scroll: Refreshed design to bring this part of the store home in line visually and functionally with the rest of the sections.
New Sections
Your Wishlist: This section, as you might guess, features games on discount from your wishlist.
DLC for Your Games: This section will feature DLC that's on discount for games from your library.
About the beta
We're constantly looking to make Steam better, and we make decisions based on data and feedback we receive. The Steam Client Beta is a great way to test features that are in-progress and provide impactful feedback.
Not participating in the Steam Client Beta? Here's how to join. Try out the new homepage and let us know what you think.
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