Steam Next Fest: June Edition had the most visitors (11.4 million!) of any other Next Fest so far, and there were hundreds of free demos available to play throughout the fest.

We thought we'd surface a list of the most played (by unique players) during the week of the event itself. Some of these still have their demos up (or recently reactivated for the week!) and all are available to wishlist ahead of their official launch date.

Take a look through the 50 most-played demos from Steam Next Fest: June Edition!

A new Steam client has been released and will be automatically downloaded.

Note: This client was rereleased on July 10 to fix installscript support for some games

General

• Added playing a sound when displaying a notification toast in desktop mode.
  
• Added a toggle in notification settings to turn on/off sounds for non-critical notifications.
  
• Improved responsivity of showing systray menu.
  
• Small organization and clarity changes to notifications settings.
  
• Rearranged notifications settings page and made some controls respond to changes in the global settings.
  
• Fixed stability of blue focus bar at the top of various windows.
  
• Fixed "When a screenshot is taken, display a notification" setting not being honored and "When a screenshot is taken, play a sound" only changing after the current game has exited.
  
• Fixed window control positions on chat settings popups.
  
• Fixed issue where certain links would load pages in an overlay browser rather than open on desktop.
  
• Fixed URL bar in popup/overlay browser sometimes being out of date.
  
• Fixed issue that could cause an error when entering a valid Steam Guard code.
  
• Fixed rare achievement animation not appearing when Steam was not focused or hovered instead of just pausing.
  
• Fixed not being able to type into some browser views if using touch input.
  
• Fixed Windows virtual keyboard sometimes not working in library when using touch input
  
• Fixed persona name in top bar occasionally displaying incorrectly if it started with #.
  
• Fixed rare crash when displaying some tooltips.
  
• Fixed some web pages being viewable in tabbed browser even if Family View should have restricted that content.
  
• Fixed recent games list in systray menu not updating while Steam is running.
  
• Fixed placement of systray menu on Windows when text scaling is enabled.
  
• Fixed app icons for events in What's New not loading on first click.
  
• Fixed links not working in account creation and pre-login help dialogs.
  
• Fixed windows sometimes not updating appearance when clicking maximize button.
  
• Fixed showing a black screen at startup if the startup location was set to something prohibited by Family View.
  
• Fixed the tops of some context menus not being interactable if they overlap the title bar.
  
• Removed incorrect date display on some DLC hovers.
  
• Properly show an error when failing to load existing awards given when showing the award dialog for user generated content, reviews, discussion posts, and comments.

In-Game Overlay

• Added battery indicator to the desktop overlay when running on laptop or handheld device with battery.
  
• Fixed soft-lock when a game requested that asynchronous game notifications be enabled.
  
• Fixed issue causing desktop overlay to not render properly in macOS CS:GO.
  
• Fixed issue where viewing a user's profile was not working in some older games (e.g Left 4 Dead 2).
  
• Fixed issue where the overlay was not responding to mouse input when there was a controller configuration loaded that included virtual menus.
  
• Fixed an issue where the "Invite Friend to Game" dialog didn't work while in a Steam group voice chat channel.
  
• Fixed overlay windows showing in pinned state when overlay is activated for some games (e.g. Warhammer: Vermintide 2).

Big Picture Mode

• Added playing a sound to some notification toasts where it was previously missing.
  
• Fixed wrong auto display scale being chosen for wide displays.
  
• Fixed some views being the wrong size on macOS.
  
• Fixed issue displaying the system tray context menu.
  
• Fixed some issues where some taller sections in controller summary layout preview screen were cut-off at the bottom when viewed in the in-game overlay.
  
• Fixed error message that was sometimes displayed while showing a notification.
  
• Fixed viewing and closing a news event partially blocking mouse and touch input on the window.
  
• Fixed an issue with displaying SSIDs in internet settings for some SSIDs containing non-alphanumeric characters.

Steam Input

• Fixed some Nintendo Switch Pro controllers not being recognized after the last Steam update.
  
• Fix bug where configurations could fail to get deleted.
  
• Fix bug where configurations could disappear from the configuration browser after deleting a different configuration.

Screenshots Manager

• Privacy dropdown selector for local screenshots will now remember the last selection.
  
• Clicking the large image in the right panel will now open a larger popup of the screenshot.
  
• Fixed issue where the screenshot manager might popup after closing a game when no screenshots were taken for that gameplay session.

Friends & Chat

• Fixed chat window not being raised when clicking a chat notification while docked mode is enabled.
  
• Fixed minimize/maximize buttons not working for chat windows created minimized.

Server Browser

• Fixed a bug viewing server info from server browser.
  
• Fixed a bug where connecting to server with password from server browser would not give you an opportunity to enter the password.

Linux

• Add a setting to improve compatibility with window managers that send an unfocus event before every pointer click event, e.g. openbox. This setting can be found in "Settings->Interface->Enable context menu focus compatibility mode". Enabling this setting will fix dropdown menus being unclickable on these window managers.
  
• Fix incorrectly spawning a file chooser instead of a directory chooser on systems with xdg-desktop-portal FileChooser version 2.
  
• Fix a case where the overlay could have dpi scaling applied twice.
  
• Fix login window having the wrong dimensions when dpi scaling is enabled.
  
• Fix a case where menus could get clipped if dpi scaling is enabled.
  
• Fix a case where disabling dpi scaling via settings wouldn't have any effect.
  
• Restrict a workaround that prevents a crash on Nvidia GPUs to only activate when we detect an Nvidia GPU. Side-effects for this workaround include window flashing and focus stealing when a steam window is closed, which should no longer affect Intel/AMD users.

macOS

• Updated the Remote Play driver installation dialog for the new UI, fixing driver installation.
  
• Fix intermittent crash and reload of client windows when closing a window or menu.

Join us in celebrating games of all genres in the Steam Summer Sale, with two full weeks of discounts and all sorts of fun. Take a peek at the official trailer above, or just dive in now -- the sale runs until July 13th at 10am PT.

We're also excited to bring Steam Deck into the celebration as well! From now until the end of the Steam Summer Sale (July 13th at 10am PT) you can purchase a Steam Deck for up to 20% off. We've even put together a list of the top 100 most-played games on Steam Deck this year so far, many of which are participating in the Summer Sale.

Get into the summer gaming spirit (even if you're currently in the middle of winter where you are!) with deals and all sorts of fun stuff, from stickers to trading cards, badges, and more:

• Each day of the sale brings you another free sticker to claim.
  
• Look for the new Summer seasonal badge in the Points Shop
  
• Two brand new Artist profiles
  
• Plus opportunities to earn Summer Sale trading cards to level up your Summer Sale badge!

Enjoy these two weeks of gaming fun! Get your shopping started on the front page of the Steam store now.

Note: This client was re-released on June 23rd to fix the following additional issues:

• Fixed client window opening at login or when started with -silent flag for certain startup locations
  
• Fixed incorrect screenshots showing for non-Steam games
  
• Fixed adding non-Steam games on Windows
  
• Added note to hidden achievement view to alert that showing will reveal a spoiler.

A new Steam client has been released and will be automatically downloaded.

General

• Fixed small mode missing client update information.
  
• Fixed several issues related to the navigation backstack not working properly.
  
• Fixed systray menu opening at wrong location for certain Windows scaling settings or when scaling is disabled in Steam.
  
• Fixed Steam client window rendering at wrong scale after exiting Big Picture Mode when scaling is disabled.
  
• Fixed some popup windows maximizing incorrectly.
  
• Fixed crash when trying to load an empty URL in the tabbed browser window.
  
• Improved performance of the Achievements panel for games with thousands of achievements.
  
• Fixed game list sometimes incorrectly scrolling to top when selecting a game.
  
• Added ability to clear in-game overlay data in a game's Properties > General settings.
  
• Fixed issue where the modal file browser was appearing behind other windows in the in-game overlay. This was causing some soft-locks of the overlay, especially combined with the fact that URLs for the open ed tabs are saved between sessions.
  
• Fixed weird scroll behavior in the Achievements popup.
  
• Fixed issue where executing steam://url/ would not bring the main window into focus.
  
• Fixed an issue where the system tray menu and Steam menus could open in the incorrect direction for certain monitor configurations.
  
• Fixed second achievements progress bar not being filled in when comparing achievements with a friend.
  
• Fixed sharing screenshots not working properly.
  
• Fixed videos continuing to play in browsers when window is minimized or closed.
  
• Fixed page erroneously scrolling up when clicking certain parts of the advanced app filter pane.

Friends & Chat

• Fixed an issue that caused a new chat window to close almost immediately after opening. This was reproducible after inviting a friend to a game, exiting the game, and then attempting to open a chat window.
  
• Fixed incorrectly signing in to Friends on startup when setting is disabled.

In-Game Overlay

• Fixed overlay scaling when Steam display scaling setting disabled.
  
• Fixed case where a game would shell execute steam://store/<appid> to open a browser to their store page, but the overlay was not activated.
  
• Fixed issue where the overlay would not be created properly for games that spawn multiple windows (e.g. Gwent).

Steam Input

• Fix for stuttery output on DualSense over Bluetooth when using Gyro->As Joystick Output to Sticks (Was previously fixed for output to mouse only).
  
• Fixed issue where DualSense controllers would not work properly when hotplugged on Linux and Steam Deck.
  
• Gyro calibration now uses a time window to calibrate (5s), rather than a fixed number of samples (since Dualsense is now being sampled at 800hz, and could potentially autocalibrate over too short a period).
  
• Minimum Rumble Sustain reverted from 3 seconds back to 10 seconds.
  
• Improved support for third party Nintendo Switch controllers.

macOS

• Fixed certain macOS configurations that were unable to render browser content.
  
• Fixed crash opening the file browser.
  
• Fixed View > Hidden Games option.
  
• Fixed some focus issues.
  
• Fixed window control position on friends list when chat is docked.
  
• Fixed Go Online/Go Offline menu options.

Linux

• Fixed a case where a steam window would incorrectly steal input focus.
  
• Fixed cases where we would get stuck on "Waiting for Network" on platforms where NetworkManager is unreachable.
  
• Fixed a startup crash for systems that don't support the CEF sandbox.
  
• Fixed a startup crash for systems that hide GLX support from steam.

SteamVR

• Fixed some rare crashes.

Big Picture Mode

• Fixed issue where inviting a user to a game would cause the overlay UI to soft-lock.

SteamCMD

• Add the ability to request cloud storage of drm_wrap products via optional "cloud" command parameter.

Steam Deck

• Fixed issue where the main menu and quick access menus were not rendering properly after entering a PIN at the lock screen

Check out Steam Next Fest

We're back with the June 2023 edition of Next Fest! Play what's next from first-time and veteran developers alike, and join livestreams and developer chats all week long. And it's all free! Just don't forget to wishlist your faves to be notified when the game officially launches.

Today through February 13 at 10am PST (UTC-8), we're showcasing hundreds of demos from upcoming games across all genres from teams all over the world. You'll have the opportunity to try these unreleased games for free throughout Steam Next Fest—no expo halls, no queues.

No queues also means interacting with the developers is easy, too! We're kicking off a full week of developer livestreams and chats on Day 1 with our own live show (starting at 11am PDT). Join us then, and/or check out the schedule on the front page to find more to enjoy.

With so many amazing games to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start. We've got your back, with lots of easy ways to explore Steam Next Fest!

• Browse by category, or a game’s primary tags, to find demos in your favorite genre; you can even search by sub-genres or specific features.
  
• Check out the Event Schedule for developer-hosted livestreams and chats to see who you might like to connect with.
  
• Explore your personalized Steam Next Fest Discovery Queue to find popular demos similar to games you already play.

Check out Steam Next Fest

#SteamNextFest

Note: this client was rereleased on June 15th

Today we’re shipping a significant update to Steam Client, with new features and improvements to the Steam Desktop experience. This includes:

• Updated Steam Client notifications, with additional settings allowing you to choose which notifications you'll see, and where you'll see them
  
• Visual and usability improvements in dialogs, menus, fonts, and colors - including screenshot manager, achievements, and more
  
• An overhauled in-game overlay (accessible via Shift+Tab), with an updated design, new features, and more customizability
  
• New notes functionality with rich text formatting, image pasting, and offline functionality. Multiple notes can be saved per-game, and they are accessible via the in-game overlay, desktop client, and Steam Deck
  
• New pinning functionality - panels from the in-game overlay can now be "pinned" (with adjustable opacity) so they are viewable while in-game
  
• Updated controller configurator is now part of the overlay when a gamepad is connected
  
• Mac & Linux versions of Steam have been updated to enable hardware acceleration

In addition to these features, a good portion of the work we did in this update went into significant improvements under-the-hood, including changes to how we share code across Steam Desktop, Steam Deck, and Big Picture Mode.

Read more about the update and watch the announcement video in the blog post here.

Other changes:

General

• Display an error if the user is trying to log in anonymously in the client. This mode is only supported for steamcmd.
  
• Uninstalling a game no longer displays a modal dialog
  
• Fixed "Manage Storage" button opening the storage settings page
  
• Fix soundtrack cover art not appearing in content management panel
  
• Fixed popup menus opening at the wrong DPI in multi-monitor mixed-DPI configurations.
  
• Fixed some context menus opening incorrectly when the opening window is maximized.
  
• Fixed in-client link to support FAQ detailing Windows 7/8/8.1 end-of-life.
  
• Fixed login refresh dialog not showing in overlay when a game is launched by a second Steam session while a game is running
  
• Fixed issue where viewing app properties caused the Steam client to be unusable
  
• Fixed download rate limiting not working in some cases
  
• Fixed error when navigating the game list with arrow keys and landing on a category header.
  
• Fixed issue where clicking on store or community links in a news post within the client would not navigate to the website
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur if toggling bandwidth limits while a game download is in flight, or if cloud syncs while a game download is in flight.
  
• Fixed issues in sign in UI when switching between entering a Steam Guard code and entering a backup code
  
• The game is ready for preload & game released spotlight in the library will no longer show for users who own the game through family sharing
  
• Fixed close button on the Update News dialog starting at the top of the dialog, then moving down to the bottom when the content loaded
  
• Fixed category capsules overflowing into the app details page when the window is very narrow
  
• Added new Achievements popup accessible from the game details page
  
• Fixed "View Updated Items" context menu items in the Downloads section for games that have updated Workshop items
  
• Moved 24hr time setting from Friends & Chat to Interface
  
• Stopped forcing 12-hour clock display if the user did not explicitly select the 24-hour clock. The default is locale dependent.
  
• Fixed incorrect UI state when a game is purchased while the user is in a timed trial
  
• Updated URL for store checkout process.
  
• Added a tooltip to "Other" section in storage settings to explain what it contains
  
• Fixed occasional crash when toggling a game's favorite status through the play bar on the game details page.
  
• Added a setting to let a user decide whether Ready to Play should include streaming and whether the local computer should be the default in details. This defaults to true on desktop and false on Steam Deck.
  
• Fixed game list unnecessarily flickering to top when selecting a game that's in a collection.
  
• Fixed artwork modal sizing height based on screen width, fixes close button being off-screen on taller images.
  
• Fixed missing animation for rare achievements on the game details page
  
• Fixed some multiplayer issues with games that use Steam Networking
  
• Fixed last game in the Storage Manager being cut off at the bottom of the scrollable list
  
• Fixed issue where double-clicking on the Steam icon in the system tray would enter large mode, even if it wasn't required. If the start page is set to something that requires large mode (except for Store), and the UI is in small mode, double-clicking will enter large mode.

Friends & Chat

• Fixed issue where "Invite to Play" was not available in the Friends List for some games (e.g. CS:GO)
  
• Fixed issue where going idle would cause Friends & Chat to reconnect when offline
  
• Fixed chat tabs sometimes overlapping window controls if a lot of tabs are open.
  
• Rearranged and reworded several items on the friends list context menu to make them more clear.
  
• Fixed the friend menu causing a black bar on the underlying chat or group window in some cases.
  
• Improved performance of the interface in the overlay when animated Steam avatars are enabled
  
• Fixed regression where the Friends List was opening, even when the setting to disable chat sign-in at startup was turned off

Big Picture Mode

• Removed support for -oldbigpicture command-line option
  
• Fixed some styling issues in the Quick Access Menu > Friends List
  
• Fixed some issues with notification toasts appearing in the wrong location in multi-monitor setups or with different DPI settings
  
• Apply text filtering preferences in Guides in the Overlay
  
• Removed soundtracks from All Collections since it has its own tab
  
• Fixed an issue where two settings pages could be visible at once
  
• Fixed the switching of monitors when going in/out of BPM at start up
  
• Fixed overflowing friends list when sharing a screenshot
  
• Expand the hitbox of buttons in the footer to make them easier to click
  
• Fixed showing notifications in the Big Picture Mode game overlay
  
• Improved performance of dual trackpad typing in the Virtual Keyboard
  
• Fixed crash when after funding the Steam Wallet when attempting to make an in-game purchase in the Overlay
  
• Fixed issue where the Main Menu and Quick Access Menu stopped working after selecting a custom startup movie
  
• Any button press will now cancel the Wake custom startup movie
  
• Fixed a black screen freeze when clicking on a store widget within a news post
  
• Changed game invitations to show the launch option dialog instead of using the first option in the list. If the user has selected an option and asked to remember it, that option will be used instead of showing the dialog.
  
• Fixed issue where selecting a group chat showed an endless loading throbber until another chat was selected
  
• Added support for Mouse4 (Back) as B button in the interface
  
• Fixed opening the "Reorder controllers" dialog in the main Big Picture Window when a game is running
  
• Search will now return tags in addition to games. You can search for categories like "Free to Play" or individual tags like "survival" or "zombies".
  
• Enabled additional toast notifications that were previously only visible in Desktop mode
  
• Restored display of Special Offers in the What's New section of the home screen.
  
• Fixed a navigation issue in the Quick Access Menu showing the last section, instead of the Performance section, when selecting the Battery icon in the header
  
• Fixed inability to click on Steam notification toasts (eg. wishlist, comment).

Steam Input

• Increase responsiveness of the "Joystick Deadzone" visualization
  
• Gyro As Joystick can now optionally output to Left Joystick
  
• Fixed Gyro's Left/Right Stick Deflection Modifier not working
  
• Fixed Modeshift bindings not being removable when viewing the command on the input
  
• Fixed a case where hitting the "apply configuration" button before a configuration preview was loaded could select the wrong configuration
  
• Fixed a case where an autosave could get lost while editing
  
• Fixed the DualSense configuration preview not showing Mute button bindings
  
• Fixed bug causing DualSense triggers to only read as 0/100%
  
• Fixed error when viewing a configuration in the "Search" tab of the config browser
  
• Added several missing Steam Link App virtual controller-specific settings to the configurator
  
• Added new config export path that works while offline. In personal configuration dropdown the options are now "New Personal Save", which is this new option and "New Sharable Personal Save", which uses the existing Steam Workshop backend.
  
• Filter the configuration export options based on whether the device is connected to Steam/Offline
  
• Fixed some flashes when adjusting sliders in the Quick Settings section of the configurator
  
• Fixed moving right in the mode settings page not jumping to the appropriate settings sub-page
  
• Fixed turning off the Dual Sense Edge controller
  
• Added binding listener dialog that lets you bind inputs by hitting a mouse button, keyboard key, or gamepad button
  
• LED Color/Brightness Action reinstated as a bindable action. Find the Action settings inside the Game Pad tab when selecting an action binding (available on controllers with LEDs only)(except Switch Pro).
  
• Fixed cases where alt-tabbing between the stand alone instance of the desktop configurator and a game would not update the in-game layout
  
• Added missing inputs to the "Listen" dialog
  
• Fixed a bug where repeatedly opening the configurator to the same config could cause edits to not stick
  
• Fix Right Trackpad Click in the controller binding listening page being bound to Left Stick Click.
  
• Ongoing rumble is now interrupted when switching away from the app that requested it.
  
• Reduced maximum individual SIAPI rumble requests from 10s down to 3 seconds.
  
• Fixed crash on macOS when using a PS4 controller
  
• Updated Controller Summary page so that it scales better at different sizes
  
• Added mouse position dialog to configurator w/ support for transparency to the game or using your screenshots for position
  
• Fix rotation settings when binding Gyro to Mouse output
  
• Nintendo Switch Pro and JoyCons Gyroscopes now have sensitivities that are roughly equal to all other controllers as we step toward a Natural Sensitivity Scale (i.e. real world rotations result in roughly the same in-game output, regardless of controller used). Steam Input sensitivities on SwitchPro and JoyCon configurations will be automatically updated to compensate.
  
• Fixed Joystick Dead Zones in Calibration Screen triggering a controller-specific default to be used when a game was launched, instead of the value specified, if the value was less than 2048.
  
• Fix for gyro Smoothing settings not updating when switching to shifted modes.
  
• Fixed detection of the Steam Virtual Gamepad on macOS.
  
• Gyroscope as Joystick/DPad/Buttons/Lean were using yaw correction-to-the-average-heading, causing subtle drift over time, especially in games which involved a lot of turning in one direction (driving games, flight sims). This was also used in GetMotionData (Steam Input API) affecting titles which used the sensor fusion quaternion for aiming. The correction toward the average has now been removed.
  
• Deferred Sensor Fusion: Accelerometer correction (i.e. pitch correction from gravity sensors) for these modes is applied opportunistically - when the controller is rotating fast, or the controller is stationary (determined by stationary noise tolerances in the calibration page). This reduces noticeable "ouija effect" during fine aiming in our experiments. Note, none of the above gyro changes affect "Gyro As Mouse", which only uses Gyroscope readings, not Accelerometer.
  
• The top allowed noise threshold for gyroscope in the Gyro Calibration page has been increased 3 fold to allow abnormally noisy gyroscopes to pass the drift correction/calibration process.
  Fixes for Gyro -> Joystick (Steering/Yoke) mode:
  
• Restored drift toward average heading on gyro on the Steam Controller only.
  
• Restored: zero heading when pressing the controller's "Guide" button (or switching app generally). These will have no effect on Gyro as Mouse or Gyro as Joystick.
  
• Fixed Nintendo controller gyro sensitivity

Steam Deck

• Fixed issue where a game's specific uninstall UI was not visible
  
• Added support for notification types shown in the Desktop Client and Mobile app: Wishlist, Trade Offer, Steam Turn, Help Request, Major Sale, and Comment.
  
• Added a bell icon to the header when there are new notifications, and a green indicator to new notifications in the notifications list.

Linux

• Fixed an issue that prevented the steam client from immediately reconnecting to the steam servers when resuming the system from sleep.
  
• Fixed an intermittent crash when the OS audio server restarts.
  
• Fixed a case where the per-app Steam Play compatibility tool override dropdown would not appear.
  
• Fixed 'Delete Proton Files' not cleaning files that contain : in the path.
  
• Fixed a crash when steam fails to connect to the pulseaudio server.
  
• Added a 'Compatibility' tab to Settings where SteamPlay settings can be changed.
  
• Steam will now use the system's global scale factor as configured in KDE settings. Specifically org.gnome.desktop.interface/text-scaling-factor.
  
• Added a commandline switch to override the window scaling factor: "-forcedesktopscaling <float>".
  
• Dynamically update the UI's scaling factor when the KDE system scaling setting changes.
  
• Fixed issue preventing locally installed tools from being used as default steam play option.
  
• Fixed issues with listing and adding flatpaks as non-Steam shortcuts.
  
• Fixed Steam Linux Runtime compatibility tools not being installed to support a title in some cases.
  
• Known bug: Enabling hardware acceleration on Nvidia GPUs may cause Xorg to crash. On this platform hardware acceleration is disabled by default, but it can be enabled Settings->Interface or by opting into the beta branch.
  
• Known bug: dpi scaling may not work correctly when hardware acceleration is disabled.
  
• Use the system file picker instead of the built-in file picker if desktop portal is available.
  
• Improved scaling for users running gnome.
  
• Added an env var based override for scaling settings STEAM_FORCE_DESKTOPUI_SCALING=<float>.
  
• Fixed a rare crash when rendering an invalid texture.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented multiple DualShock 4 controllers from being connected at the same time.

Remote Play

• Fixed the remote player getting "host busy" dialog after the overlay is dismissed
  
• Show MB/s instead of KB/s in the bandwidth rate settings.

Hello! We’re excited to announce that we've just shipped a new version of the Steam Client to everyone. This update includes all the new Steam Desktop features that have been tested and fine-tuned in the beta branch. Before we get into the details, we want to thank our beta testers really quick – we couldn’t have shipped without all of your invaluable feedback and bug reports!


The most impactful changes in this update aren’t immediately visible; much of the work went into changing how we share code across the Steam Desktop Client, Big Picture mode, and Steam Deck. These changes also means quicker implementation and iteration of new features. For example, many of the features in this update (like Notes in the overlay) are simultaneously shipping on Steam Deck because of the shared codebase.

This update also brings targeted visual and usability improvements across Steam - we've gone through and updated dialogs, menus, fonts, and colors. The main Steam header and footer, Settings, and the Screenshot Manager are just a few examples of spots with refreshed UI.


Steam notifications have been updated and improved to be more useful to you. The green bell only lights up when there's truly something new for you. The tray view is limited to new notifications, and there's a "View all" page with a historical view. We’ve also added new notifications specific settings, so you can control the notifications you’ll see, and where you’ll see them.


We’ve completely overhauled the in-game overlay (accessible via Shift+Tab while in-game). It's got a brand-new user interface, adding new utility and allowing for more customizability. There is a new toolbar, giving you access to anything you may need in the middle of a game – friends chat, achievements progress, guides, discussions, a browser, and more.
We've picked a few overlay windows to show by default, and you can pick and personalize the pieces of content you’d like to see in your own overlay – settings are saved between games.


The new Notes feature lets you jot down notes about the game that you’re currently playing. It comes with rich text formatting, the ability to paste images, multiple notes per game, and can even be used in offline mode. These notes are saved per game and are synced across to any other PCs (or Steam Decks!) you are logged into. They are also accessible outside the in-game overlay, on the game details page.


We've also added the ability to pin windows from the overlay, so that they can appear on top of the game - while in-game. The opacity level of these windows is adjustable, and only the contents of the window will be pinned, excluding the title bar and other extraneous UI. This new functionality is available for Notes, Guides, Discussions, Achievements, and the web browser. This feature is perfect for keeping track of progress or guides while in-game, or for multi-tasking maniacs who love to have a movie on in the background while they game.


And that's not all! The overlay now includes a Game Overview panel: your one-stop shop to see what’s going on with the game since you last played it. It shows what achievements you have in progress, which friends are also playing, top guides, news, and more. In addition, the browser, achievements, and screenshot manager windows have been updated (both in the overlay and in the desktop client).


The controller experience has been improved as well. The updated controller configurator from Steam Deck is now part of the overlay when a gamepad is connected, and virtual menus can now be used while gaming on Desktop.

The technical work in this update makes it possible to enable hardware acceleration for the Mac & Linux versions of Steam, bringing them up to par with Windows. You should see snappier animations, scrolling and more responsive UI.

That's about it. You can see all of the updates and improvements in the full patch notes. As always, we love to hear from you so please let us know what you want to see next.