TRENDING: Grand Theft Auto 6 release date confirmed by Take-Two

Embarrassed about a game you're buying on Steam? You can now hide purchases from prying eyes

A new option to make a game private can be applied at purchase, or to existing games, and is currently in testing with the beta Steam client.

Embarrassed about a game you're buying on Steam? You can now hide purchases from prying eyes
Comment IconFacebook IconX IconReddit Icon
Tech Reporter
Published
Updated
1 minute & 15 seconds read time

Steam users who are buying games they'd rather not let anyone else know about can now hide such purchases.

You can make games private when purchasing them, or at a later date (Image Credit: Valve)

You can make games private when purchasing them, or at a later date (Image Credit: Valve)

Valve has introduced a new capability in beta whereby Steam users can choose a new option at checkout - 'For my account: private.'

As the name suggests, when this choice is made, the game is purchased, but not shown publicly.

No one will be able to see what you've bought, not your friends or anyone else, and indeed the game will be kept off status updates and suchlike.

Valve tells us: "Starting today you'll be able to mark specific games as private and they'll disappear from anywhere they'd be viewed by someone other than you. That includes: your ownership, in-game status, playtime, and activity in that game. This additional control allows you to keep most of your Steam Library visible to your friends, so they can see what you are playing and join in, yet also keep a few of those games just to yourself."

Games can also be marked private after purchase, under the settings for your games library.

There are a couple of other new features in the latest Steam beta client, too, one of which is that your shopping cart will now be synced across all devices.

A change to inline gifting also makes it possible to buy multiple gifts for many friends (and including yourself) in just one transaction, rather than having to make multiple separate purchases.

These are all useful tweaks, but as noted they're still in testing, though it won't be long before they make their way to the release version of the Steam client, no doubt.

Photo of the Starfield: Standard Edition - Xbox Series X
Best Deals: Starfield: Standard Edition - Xbox Series X
Country flag Today 7 days ago 30 days ago
Loading... Loading...
Buy
$69.99 USD -
Buy
* Prices last scanned on 11/8/2024 at 7:16 pm CST - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission from any sales.
Newsletter Subscription

Join the daily TweakTown Newsletter for a special insider look into new content and what is happening behind the scenes.

Tech Reporter

Email IconX IconLinkedIn Icon

Darren has written for numerous magazines and websites in the technology world for almost 30 years, including TechRadar, PC Gamer, Eurogamer, Computeractive, and many more. He worked on his first magazine (PC Home) long before Google and most of the rest of the web existed. In his spare time, he can be found gaming, going to the gym, and writing books (his debut novel – ‘I Know What You Did Last Supper’ – was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

Darren's Computer

Related Topics

Newsletter Subscription