Key Takeaways
- Steam now has a built-in game recording function for PC and Steam Deck.
- The Game Recording beta allows capturing gameplay, using Replay feature, and adding timeline-enhanced markers.
- Steam’s built-in editor helps trim and share recordings, and game developers can use Game Recording SDK and API.
You don’t realize you need a screen recorder app for your gameplay until after the cool event has happened. Then you’re relegated to imagining what could have been as you struggle to research which app would be best to save your future glories, fails, and funny moments. Fortunately, if you’re playing a PC game on Steam, those times are now over, as Valve have added a built-in game recording function that works via the Steam Overlay.
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Valve releases the Game Recording beta for PC and Steam Deck
As announced on the Steam Game Recording beta page, this new feature can help you capture your gameplay without any additional tools. You can set Steam to record all of your gameplay from start to end, which makes it a great tool for re-watching your gameplay to figure out where you’re going wrong. You can also use the Replay feature to recall the last few seconds, which works with the Steam Overlay. That means that if a game supports the Steam Overlay, it supports Replay capture by default.
The Game Recording beta also introduces timeline-enhanced games. If a game supports the Steam recording feature, it unlocks additional context when you perform an active recording. The game will automatically mark your timeline depending on what happened, from skipping parts where you’re in a lobby to highlighting that one cool kill you got. And if something funny happens, you can make your own marker to return to that point during editing.
Speaking of editing, Steam also supplies all the tools you need to share the clips. You can use the built-in editor to trim your recording down to size, then use the share feature to send it to friends, transfer it to another device, or share it as an MP4. And if you’re wondering, yes, all this works on Steam Deck too.
To get started, open Steam go to Settings> Interface> Beta Participation, then select either beta option. To record gameplay, go to Settings> Game Recording and select either Background or On Demand recording. And game developers now have access to the Game Recording SDK and API to enhance their games with automatic timeline markers.