Valve just single-handedly upgraded content creation for PC gamers – Steam’s Game Recording feature is now available to all

Game Recording exits beta to full release

News By Isaiah Williams published 6 November 2024

• Steam’s Game Recording feature is out of beta and available to everyone
• It automatically records the last 120 minutes of gameplay
• The feature leverages the video encoding chops of AMD and Nvidia GPUs

The recent Steam Families update proved beneficial for many PC gamers, and Valve has taken another step in the right direction with Steam’s Game Recording functionality exiting beta, and now being available to all users.

This fresh innovation allows Steam gamers to have their gameplay recorded automatically with titles that support the platform’s overlay feature. As VideoCardz reports, when set to ‘Background Recording’ mode, it will capture the last 120 minutes of gameplay (temporarily, in case you need it). Or alternatively you can initiate a manual ‘On Demand Recording’ and start, then stop, the recording yourself.

Game Recording also allows game developers to hook up with the official API, so devs can implement the ability to add markers for specific events in a recording (like when a boss battle happens, for example) to help you better navigate the recorded footage and find what you want.

This could be a game-changer (literally) for many content creators, with the convenience of running both a game and the recording feature seamlessly together on Steam.

That said, it’s important to note that running Game Recording could meaningfully impact in-game performance (especially on handheld gaming PCs or weaker desktop configurations), but there are options for both lower quality recordings which could help soften any potential performance drops.

Game Recording will use the video encoding chops of your AMD or Nvidia GPU, if you have one, or rely on the CPU if your PC lacks graphics capabilities. In the latter case, that's likely to cause more in the way of performance hiccups, as you might imagine.

An eventual dream team of Steam streaming integration?

While Steam’s Game Recording is a notable enhancement for all users on the platform, Valve is yet to implement any streaming capabilities. OBS Studio and StreamLabs both feature manual recordings and streaming, which are ideal for social platforms like YouTube and Twitch.

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