Steam has become almost synonymous with PC gaming. Do you play on PC? You probably have Steam. A PC game, except for temporary exclusivity, will most likely be on Steam. Because the truth is that Valve’s platform is truly complete and has everything. No, not at all. For example, it doesn’t have a tool to capture the screen and record our gameplay. That’s still in the hands of third-party tools like NVIDIA.

Until now.

Game recorder comes to Steam. This was announced by Valve via the play store and indicates that it is in beta. Therefore, we will have to use the Steam trial version to access it. This version can be obtained by following the steps below, and needless to say, since it is a test version, it is possible for there to be bugs and things not working here and there.

Open Steam > Steam > Settings > Interface > Client Beta Participation > Steam Beta Update

Save games…. The recorder runs in the background and can be configured in a variety of ways. For example, we can set it to record for X amount of time, or to stop when the recording reaches X amount of weight. Similarly, we can use it to go back in time during the game and remember what an NPC just said to us, or what specific move the Elden Ring boss made before killing us for the twenty-fifth time in an hour. Nothing out of the ordinary so far.

This is what the Steam Timeline looks like | Image: Valve

…with plus. The key to the Steam recorder is that it has several useful tools that will make life much easier for people who like to capture, edit and broadcast gameplay. One of the most notable is the so-called Steam Timeline. Games using this option will automatically create event flags when important things happen, like a headshot in ‘Counter-Strike’ or a death in ‘DOTA 2’.

It’s also interesting that games can control the appearance of the timeline to indicate the state of the game. If you’ve ever recorded a game, you’ll know that the final video includes menus, loading screens, waiting rooms, and the game itself. Editing this to make a great montage can be scary and I speak from experience. Well, with Steam Timeline, menus and waiting rooms will be differentiated from the starting parts, making cutting easier.

This is what the Steam gameplay recorder looks like | Image: Valve

This does not bind you. Although the game is saved in an optimized format with all the above-mentioned functions, the platform does not bind us in any way. If we want to access the file for editing in Premiere, CapCut or another tool, we will need to export it as MP4, that’s all. This doesn’t tie us down to Steam games either, as the recorder will work with any game that supports Steam’s UI. And yes, it is compatible with Steam Deck.

Image | Pexels edited by Xataka

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