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Steam’s New Design and Remote Play Together Feature Are Now Available for All

Steam has released an update that includes a new game library interface and a new feature that lets you play offline co-op games online. Both changes have existed in beta builds of Steam but are now available for everyone.

For all of the features that Valve has added to Steam over the last 16 years, the platform is sometimes criticized for having an outdated interface compared to the dashboards you’ll find on consoles like the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Today’s update works toward addressing that criticism with a modernized interface for the Steam client’s Library tab.

The Library tab still lists all your Steam games on the left, but the main panel on the right side is now full of tiled cover art from your games, which are organized into categories such as the titles you’ve played recently and what your friends have been playing lately. The games listed here include recommendations for what your friends are really into that you don’t already own.

Along with making it a little easier to discover new games, the Library tab features a “What’s New” section where you’ll find a news feed for games that you play and for Steam itself (there’s a notice about this interface update). This section is displayed right up top and should make it easy for players to see updates about their games as they go to play them through the Steam Library.

And although the Library tab still lists all your Steam games on the left, there are new options to organize the titles into separate “Collections” such as “Best Indie Games.” Right-click on the game in your library and go to Add to > New Collection where you can enter a new collection. This screen also lets you create dynamic collections that add filters to the mix.

Today’s update also brings the new Remote Play Together feature from Steam’s beta builds to the mainstream client for all. Remote Play Together lets you host multiplayer sessions for games that would otherwise be limited to local sessions where you and your friend are sitting on the same couch together. The feature works by streaming video of the host’s game to other players and sending control inputs from the other players to the host.

Both the updated Library interface and Remote Play Together should be available in an update for your Steam client.

Source: Steam

Matthew DeCarlo Matthew DeCarlo
Matthew DeCarlo has been in digital publishing for more than a decade, during which time he has authored and edited thousands of technology articles including industry news, hardware and software reviews, product buying guides, how-tos, editorials, in-depth explainers, trivia, and more. Read Full Bio »