Valve’s Steam Deck, a handheld gaming device that allows you to play your favorite PC games on the go, has received a new feature that will save users time and data. The Steam Deck now supports game transfers from PCs on your local network, meaning you can copy installed games from your PC to the Steam Deck without the need to re-download them over the internet. This is particularly useful for users who frequently download hefty games to their handheld.
The new feature was released last week as part of the Steam Deck beta update. To access it, you need to enable the Steam beta on both the Steam Deck and the Steam client on your PC. Once this is done, you can select the game you want to install on your Steam Deck, and Steam will automatically check to see if any PC on your network already has the game. If it does, Steam will begin the game transfer process.
It’s worth noting that this feature applies to all PCs on the same network, so you can transfer already-installed Steam games to your PC from any other PC in your household. Steam has provided more information on how the process works on its support page. The company notes that if the devices lose connection during the transfer process, or if there is no more content available, Steam will download the rest of the game from its servers instead.
Users can also adjust the settings that dictate which PCs their Steam Deck or PC can download from. By default, Steam sets it to “Only my own devices,” which means you can only transfer games from the devices you are logged into Steam with. However, you can also set it to “Only my friends” and “Any user” if you want to download games from a friend or family member’s PC.
It’s worth mentioning that the Steam Deck or PCs in Big Picture mode cannot initiate game transfers just yet. Nonetheless, this new feature is an exciting addition to the Steam Deck and will certainly make the transfer process of games more convenient and efficient. If you’re a fan of playing games on the go and you haven’t yet tried the Steam Deck, this feature just might be the push you need to give it a go.
