Summary
- Valve has released a beta build for its Steam client, allowing users to label games as private and providing more shopping cart options for gift purchases.
- This update fulfills rumors that players would have more control over their libraries, a feature that was notably absent for 20 years.
- Users can hide games by opting into the Steam beta client, marking them as private, and hiding achievements and playtime from view. The beta also introduces inline gifting and a unified shopping cart across devices.
With just a few days left until Christmas, Valve released a beta build for its Steam client that allowed players to label some games as private and give them more shopping cart options to sort out gift purchases for themselves and their friends. Steam users can test this beta version and the new game privacy feature on all current platforms that Valve's service is on.
One month before the Steam client beta build went live, rumors began to circulate that Valve would give players some discretion over their libraries. Thanks to this update, those rumors proved true. Though Steam has seen plenty of changes since its inception as a launcher for Counter-Strike in 2003, the fact that a feature to hide games was not among them until 20 years later is a long overdue addition to the service. While it is a beta feature and still subject to change, Steam users can now test the ability to keep their libraries away from prying eyes and provide feedback on how it functions.
However, if Steam users want to hide that they played a dubious game such as The Day Before, they will need to opt into the Steam beta client first. According to the Steam beta notes, users can go into the Settings menu, select Interface, and activate the Steam Beta Update option from the drop-down menu. This will force Steam to restart and download an update that is roughly 88 MB. After the update is complete, users can select a game and click on the cogwheel icon to mark a game as private. This will obfuscate the game in question from all Steam users, including friends, and will hide all achievements and playtime from view. However, this mark can be revoked freely and given to an unlimited number of games and applications available on Steam.
Steam Beta Client Shopping Cart Updates (December 20, 2023)
In addition to marking games as private, a change to the shopping cart was added to give Steam users more streamlined ways to give gifts to friends. In addition to labeling games as private from the shopping cart, users can also buy gifts for their friends and themselves in a single transaction. This change will make gifting multiplayer titles such as Lethal Company much more convenient for users who want to play together over the holidays.
- Inline gifting: Just in time for the holidays, you can now purchase gifts for multiple friends (and yourself) without having to make multiple purchases. Plus, gift messaging has been simplified to speed up the checkout process.
- One cart across all devices: Items in your shopping cart will now follow you across all devices where you're signed in to Steam. Note that during the beta, the cart will only be accessible within the beta client.
- Private purchasing: Keeping your games private starts before you even make a purchase, so the new cart lets you mark a game as private before you check out.
With the Steam Winter Sale right around the corner, and more Steam sales planned in 2024, Valve's software has taken big strides towards giving users what they want. It remains to be seen what features will be added in the future.
Steam is a digital video game storefront and program developed by Valve that allows gamers to purchase, play, and mod their titles all through one convenient program.
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info