You just got back from work or school, you turn on your PC and launch Steam. You sense something is amiss, you feel weird but you don’t know why. Turns out it’s because Steam has just got a glow-up! Without any noticeable announcement, Valve recently gave Steam’s UI a significant glow up. Here we are going to talk about what’s new in the changes!
What’s New in the Steam UI?
The most noticeable change is the new Steam in-game overlay UI. Not only has the design been updated, but Valve also added additional buttons and menus in the in-game overlay UI.
Hello! We've just shipped a big update to the Steam Desktop client. New features include a completely redesigned in-game overlay, new notes functionality, pinnable in-game windows, improvements to notifications and more.
Learn more about the update here: https://t.co/6OWnUQOBqs pic.twitter.com/A9OI8WMaqb
— Steam (@Steam) June 14, 2023
Game Overview
The first button on the far left bottom of the screen is the upgraded Game Overview. The button will open up a small window that does a couple of things:
- Tells you about your playtime in the game
- Friends in-game
- Friends who have played recently
- Screenshots
- Top guides
- Recent news
Notes
This feature is one of the highlights of this update. Valve added notes in the in-game Steam overlay where it lets players write down notes directly without having to switch programs.
- The notes can be placed into the overlay and shown above a game for quick access.
- Added notes will be saved in cloud data, so users are able to keep track of the note using multiple devices
Upgraded Steam Browser
Knowing that the Steam browser often causes issues in-game and sometimes just won’t work, Valve made some adjustments to the in-game overlay browser. It is now more accessible and noticeably faster.
Steam Client Notification
The notification system in Steam is now upgraded. It is updated with additional settings which allow you to choose the notifications you’ll see, and where you’ll see them. Some of the new notification additions are:
- If there is a major sale
- When you receive a reply from Steam Support
- When you receive a Steam Turn Notification
Valve has also given users the freedom of a custom option which gives you a choice to turn on the notification in the Steam client and in the mobile app alert separately.
Overall Steam Desktop Experience
As informed on Steam’s official website, some new overall desktop changes are:
- 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 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
Those are the new major changes in the Steam UI update. What do you think? Did Valve just make Steam UI much better in this new glow up? Or do you prefer the classic previous Steam UI design?
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