Valve Unveils Game-Changing Steam Deck Update that Will Blow Your Mind

Highlights

Valve released a new update for the Steam Deck, improving stability and adding features, such as sorting games by date and copying controller mappings.

This update aims to improve the overall user experience, enabling players to fully enjoy their games free from any reported issues. Despite the increasing competition in the handheld console gaming market, the Steam Deck continues to be the preferred option for the majority of PC players.

Valve has released the patch notes for the latest update to the Steam Deck Client, featuring a range of bug fixes and the introduction of new features aimed at enhancing the overall user experience on the device. This update follows on from the previous one, which was released about a month ago, and brings numerous improvements to Valve's handheld console.

Since its launch in February 2022, the Steam Deck has revolutionized the gaming experience for PC players by allowing them to enjoy a wide selection of PC games on the go. With a diverse library of Steam Deck verified games, including popular AAA titles and hidden indie gems, Valve consistently adds new games that are compatible with their handheld device. Additionally, players have the option to use the Steam Deck to play classic PS1 games, effectively turning Valve's console into an emulation system for running various retro games.

Valve has released an update for the Steam Deck Client, enhancing the overall stability of the device while also introducing several quality-of-life enhancements. Users who possess a vast library of Steam games will now experience fewer bugs when navigating through their backlog. Moreover, they can now conveniently sort their games by date on shelves and grids. Additionally, players with custom controller inputs can easily duplicate and transfer their mappings. The developer console now showcases timestamps in the Steam console window. Furthermore, a new in-game option allows users to enable or disable the display scaling in the overlay when utilizing the Steam Deck in Desktop Mode.

This Steam Deck update aims to enhance the gaming experience on Valve's handheld device by addressing previous issues. The improved stability allows players to enjoy games like The Last of Us Part 1 and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, which are officially Steam Verified. Valve regularly expands the Steam Deck's game library, with more titles expected to join in the coming months. As the handheld console gaming market grows more competitive, with devices such as Ayaneo KUN, Lenovo's Legion Go, and Asus ROG Ally entering the market, the Steam Deck remains the preferred choice for PC players seeking a portable gaming device.

Steam Deck Client Update Patch Notes

General

Improved library performance for users with large numbers of collections.

Fixed a hitch that some players with large libraries might encounter every 15 minutes while playing a game.

Fixed presentation and localization of items in the Special Offers section.

Fixed notifications for achievements not firing when offline.

Fixed a case where the wrong FPS limit could be applied on startup.

Fixed a case where the controller input thread could operate at normal instead of high scheduling priority.

Fixed styling on the login error screen and made the retry button accessible to the gamepad.

Library

Added the ability to sort by date added to library to shelves and game grids.

Steam Input

Enhanced the functionality to include the option of duplicating and transferring mappings while configuring controller inputs.

Enriched the navigation experience in the configurator by resolving the issue of repetitive loops in the back stack when transitioning from the Preview screen. Consequently, you can now effortlessly return with a single press of the B button, provided you have not interacted with the left column.

The configurator's blank page issue resulting from certain navigation changes in the previous beta has been resolved.

The problem of effects being altered on PS4 and PS5 controllers when Steam Input is disabled has been fixed.

Desktop Mode

Added In-Game setting to allow enabling or disabling display scaling in the overlay.

The overlay tabbed browser now clears all tabs when clicking the close button and includes a minimize button to hide the browser instead of closing it.

Resolved the issue where the wallet balance was not updating in the title bar when the balance reaches zero.

Improved display of the "Notify me about additions or changes to my games..." setting in the interface settings if it had not been altered previously.

Resolved an issue where the user interface would mistakenly display the incorrect image when transitioning between small mode and normal mode.

Fixed main client window taking focus from other Steam windows when navigation menus are hovered.

Developer console

Added a setting to display timestamps in the Steam console window.

Changed Steam console window to keep the last several seconds of output even if that would exceed the normal buffer length.

Fixed command echo sometimes appearing on the same line as the previous output.

Fixed clear_console command not doing anything.

Source: Steam