Steam Game Recording is a new ShadowPlay-like gameplay recording feature for all Steam games

Steam Game Recording is now available in Beta for you to try out. It is Valve's surprise new in-game recording and exporting tool, which sounds a lot like ShadowPlay or recording gameplay on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X consoles.

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The new feature is built into Steam and offers background recording, on-demand recording, a replay feature, and a groundbreaking tool for editing tools and creating clips. Plus, you can share videos conveniently, and Steam Game Recording is Steam Deck verified.

One of its groundbreaking and game-changing features worth exploring is the new Timeline with Event Markers. Each recording will include a Timeline overlay that shows when you were in a menu, capturing a screenshot, or unlocking an achievement with Event Marker icons. This makes it super easy to find moments and create highlights and clips.

And yes, it supports player-added markers. Even more interesting, Valve hints at timeline-enhanced games coming, allowing developers and publishers to create a suite of markers for gameplay recording through Steam.

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Steam Game Recording uses the MP4 format for saving videos, with players able to control the bitrate and adjust the default recording length (120 minutes). The new feature is compatible with every Steam game, and if it's set up to auto-record, it will begin recording as soon as you fire up a game and stop once the game is closed or you exceed the default recording length.

As a new and exciting part of the Steam Overlay, the only that could potentially hold it back from taking over all other game recording tools on PC is if the video quality isn't as good as NVIDIA's ShadowPlay or there's a noticeable hit to system performance. After opting into the Steam Game Recording Beta and doing some initial gameplay recording with V Rising, I found the quality sharp and smooth without any noticeable hit to performance. Grant, that's on my GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER-powered rig.

To test out Steam Game Recording, go to Settings > Interface > Beta Participation in the Steam Client and Select the Beta Update option. Once installed, go to the new Settings > Game Recording section to choose between Background or On Demand recording.