Valve has released a new Steam Client beta update that introduces a “Big Art Mode” layout and a dedicated screensaver feature for Big Picture Mode. The update aims to refresh the handheld- and TV-focused interface while adding extra UI customisation options.

Big Art Mode adjusts the standard side-by-side interface layout, making it more similar to the PS5 Home screen. It allocates most of the screen to artwork for the selected game while displaying other titles in smaller windows near the bottom.

Alongside this visual refresh, the new screensaver function triggers when Steam remains idle for a set period. Users can choose to display full-screen game art, show recent screenshots, or load custom screensavers from a designated directory.

To access these features, users must opt into the beta channel through Steam's system settings menu. Once updated, players can toggle the layout under Settings > Home, while screensaver options are in Settings > Customisation. Beyond visual tweaks, this beta version delivers faster startup performance, optimised game recording in select DX12 titles, and fixes for frame-rate hitches when capturing screenshots during DX11 and DX12 gameplay on Windows.

KitGuru says: Customisable screensavers and a larger art layout in Big Picture Mode make Steam feel much more tailored to handhelds and living room setups. Do you like the looks of the new Big Art Mode?

Valve is dealing with another leak this week. Just days after a decade‑old 12TB Steam depot surfaced online, a separate issue briefly exposed private achievement lists for a wide range of in‑development games, including both unannounced titles and projects still months away from release.

According to the owner of achievement‑tracking site Exophase, a recent Steam update appears to have temporarily made private achievement data accessible through the Steam API. As a result, the site automatically scraped and published achievement lists for several upcoming games. This included already‑announced titles like Persona 6, Judas, Kingdom Hearts 4 and Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, as well as multiple unnamed projects that appeared only by AppID.

Speaking on ResetEra, the site owner explained: “Seems like a possible screw up on Valve's end, a bunch of games with achievements that should be private are accessible through the API right now and that's why they got scanned into the site. I usually never see games without an actual name pop up with achievements, yet over the past hour or so a bunch have.”

This marks the second significant leak Valve has suffered in a short span. While the earlier 12TB depot leak involved data from 13+ years ago, this latest leak has potentially revealed spoilers for games not yet out or announced. With that said, in the case of unannounced games, or titles still a long way from release like Persona 6, there is a good chance that you'll find placeholder achievements or incomplete lists, rather than an accurate representation of all planned achievements.

KitGuru Says: Achievement data leaking is unusual, and the timing makes this even more awkward for Valve. With many of these games still deep in development, any achievements seen today are almost certainly subject to change.

Valve appears to be gearing up for the Steam Frame’s launch. After months of leaks pointing to final SteamOS updates and wireless‑linking features being prepared behind the scenes, Valve has now added a reservation system to the Steam Frame’s store page, though you can't reserve one just yet.

The reservation system is the same one previously used for the Steam Deck and the Steam Machine. It isn’t live yet, but the back‑end is already in place, as spotted by Valve‑focused dataminer Brad Lynch. Considering the timing, the reservation announcement should go live later this week, or next week, followed by reviews and the first unit shipments towards the end of September or early October.

Like the Steam Machine, Valve may once again run a lottery before opening general orders. Due to low supply for the Steam Machine, Valve first asked interested customers to sign up, then ran a one‑time randomisation process to determine who could place an order first. Valve then worked through the reservation list month‑by‑month as new stock arrived. We expect a similar process for the Steam Frame.

We still don’t know how much the Steam Frame will cost, but expectations remain high that it will be on the expensive side. It is a fully self‑contained headset with its own internal hardware capable of running games natively, so it isn't immune to the ongoing RAM and SSD price surge.

KitGuru Says: Are you planning to reserve a Steam Frame once the system goes live?

Steam continues to make absurd amounts of money each year, and 2026 is shaping up to be one of its strongest years yet. As the biggest PC gaming platform, Steam has long been a revenue giant, but the pace of growth is still surprising, with the platform reportedly generating over $15 billion this year alone. 

This week, Rhys Elliot, head of market analysis at Alinea Analytics, shared new data highlighting Steam’s highest‑grossing new releases of 2026 so far. According to their estimates, six titles, including two brand‑new IP, have already generated just under $1 billion in gross revenue. These games alone account for around 6.6 percent of Steam’s roughly $15 billion in revenue for the year so far.

The top earners include major franchise releases like Forza Horizon 6 and Resident Evil Requiem, both of which have performed exceptionally well on PC. However, new IP is also making an impact. Crimson Desert has generated an estimated $203 million on Steam alone, accounting for roughly 18 percent of all new‑IP revenue in the top 100 new releases this year.

Indie titles are also contributing meaningfully. Slay the Spire II has continued the success of its predecessor, pulling in an estimated $148 million, while Meccha Chameleon, a brand-new breakout indie hit, has generated around $90M in revenue.

Across the top 100 new releases of 2026, Alinea estimates around $2.4 billion in combined revenue. Interestingly, while 63 percent of those games are new IP, established franchises still account for over half of the revenue.

KitGuru Says: Steam’s revenue growth shows no signs of slowing down, and established franchises continue to dominate the charts. With several major PC releases still to come this year, Steam’s 2026 totals could end up being record‑breaking.

Four years on from launch, Valve's Steam Deck Verified and Playable library has surpassed 30,000 titles, according to tracking data from SteamDB. 

Tracking data from SteamDB (via Gaming on Linux) confirms 30,026 titles (at the time of writing) hold official compatibility badges. A breakdown of the figures shows 21,076 games carrying “Verified” status, while 8,950 titles hold “Playable” ratings. Despite these considerable figures, 6,845 titles remain rated as “Unsupported”.

Compatibility testing continues to show occasional rating adjustments across the catalogue. Certain titles have experienced status updates following initial verification. One such example is Crimson Desert, which was initially rated “Playable” but was later changed to “Unsupported”. On the other hand, there are also “Unsupported” titles that run perfectly ok in the console, proving that there's still room for improvement in this system.

KitGuru says: While there are still thousands of unsupported titles, many of them likely run fine on the Steam Deck and just haven't been tested yet. 

A major Valve leak has surfaced this week, exposing around 12TB of Steam depot data from 2003 to 2013. The archive reportedly includes unreleased prototypes, early builds of Valve titles and even third‑party content uploaded to Steam during that era.

The leak was first highlighted by Valve dataminer GabeFollower, who shared screenshots of the depot’s contents. According to Scolcer, the database wasn’t accessed through hacking, it was simply left publicly reachable, with no password or protections in place. Valve had changed its storage systems for Steam in 2013, so it is likely that this old depot was simply overlooked for a long time and not brought in line with updated security procedures.

Early findings point to a wide range of material, including prototype builds for Portal and Left 4 Dead, early versions of Counter‑Strike: Global Offensive, Valve’s cancelled experimental puzzle project F‑STOP and potentially remnants of the original Half‑Life 2: Episode 3. It isn't just Valve projects contained in the leak though. A lengthy list of file names doing the rounds online include references to games like Call of Duty, Dragon Age, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines and more.

Valve has not publicly acknowledged the leak yet, but it is no doubt having some uncomfortable conversations behind the scenes today.

KitGuru Says: At this point, the files contained in this leak are so old that this leak is unlikely to have much impact. It will be interesting to historians looking for evidence of cut content or scrapped ideas in a subset of old titles, but not much beyond that. 

Valve just can’t help itself, can it? While updating the Steam Client for Arm, the company accidentally uploaded a batch of Steam Frame videos, including a full unboxing and a setup guide, and the internet noticed before anyone at Valve could hit delete.

The videos were spotted by the Steam Hardware Updates account on X, and honestly, a setup guide makes sense here. The Steam Frame isn’t a simple slap-it-on-and-go headset, it’s covered in buttons and features, so new users are going to need the hand-holding.

This is the last piece of Valve’s hardware trio. The Steam Machine and Steam Controller are already out, leaving the Steam Frame as the one everyone’s still waiting on. We’ve heard rumblings before that launch was close, including from a developer whose studio is reportedly holding back an action shooter until the headset ships. Add an accidental unboxing video to the pile of evidence, and a launch within a few weeks to a month starts to look pretty reasonable.

As for the headset itself, it’s built to be light: 185g on its own, 440g with the headstrap, which packs in the facial interface, audio, and battery. It streams PC VR games over Wi-Fi 7 using a low-latency adapter, and leans on eye-tracking to sharpen resolution exactly where you’re looking rather than wasting power on the edges of your vision. You’re getting dual 2160×2160 pancake displays at 144Hz across a 110-degree field of view, plus four outward cameras and an IR illuminator to keep tracking solid wherever you’re playing.

Valve leaking its own hardware before announcing it properly is becoming a bit of a pattern at this point. Not that I’m complaining, I’ll take the info however it lands.

Valve's long-rumored Steam Frame VR headset will be launching soon, according to a VR game developer. The studio and its publisher, 2080 Games, are reportedly waiting on Valve to officially release the headset before launching their title, with an announcement expected soon.

According to Notebookcheck, in the FAQ posted on Gunman Contracts' Discord server, the developer stated that Valve's VR headset release is “just around the corner”. However, as Valve hasn't announced the public date yet, the team can't do it themselves.

Image credit: Notebookcheck

The Steam Frame represents the final piece of Valve's latest three-part hardware initiative, following previous releases for the Steam Machine and Steam Controller. The specifications for the VR headset include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, 16GB of unified LPDDR5X RAM, and up to 1TB of internal storage. Each of the LCDs (one per eye) has a resolution of 2160×2160 and a refresh rate up to 144Hz.

However, recent reports indicate component costs have risen. Main chip supplier Qualcomm is reportedly raiding its processor prices by over 10%, which could force an unexpected cost adjustment for the headset.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Much like the build-up to the Steam Machine, the biggest question mark around the Steam Frame is price. Hardware has only gotten more expensive in the months since the headset's announcement, and some now believe that the Frame will actually cost more than a Steam Machine. 

Valve is thankfully continuing to expand the hardware that SteamOS supports instead of locking their OS to the Steam Machine; a hard to get and rather expensive system.  SteamOS 3.8.25 will now…

Valve’s long‑awaited Steam Frame VR headset appears to be getting closer to launch, as recent SteamOS Beta notes reference “preliminary support” for the device’s wireless adapter. It is the clearest sign yet that the headset is nearing release.

As reported by PCGamer, the latest SteamOS Beta and Preview updates now include early support for the Steam Frame Wireless Adapter, a key accessory designed to improve high fidelity PC to headset streaming. Valve first outlined its trio of upcoming hardware launches in late 2025, and the Steam Frame, a standalone VR headset capable of running games natively, is the final device yet to ship.

This is in addition to other recent movements behind the scenes at Valve, including rolling out the ‘Steam Frame Verified' programme. Fans have even gone as far as to track Valve's imports to get a clearer idea of when the Steam Frame may launch.

The Steam Frame is built to operate both as a standalone VR system and as a wireless PC VR headset. Internally, it uses a Qualcomm chip paired with a compatibility layer similar to Proton, allowing traditionally Windows only VR titles to run on ARM. When streaming from a PC, the dedicated wireless adapter aims to reduce interference from household WiFi devices, improving latency and stability for demanding VR games.

Valve had previously indicated a summer 2026 launch window, and growing evidence suggests the headset is now in the final stretch before release. However, we are also anticipating a higher-than-expected price tag when the Steam Frame does arrive, as recent reports indicate that it could cost more than the Steam Machine.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The Steam Frame has been a long time coming. At this point, I would expect a late August or September launch window. There is still one big question that remains though – how much will it cost? 

If you've recently ordered a Steam Machine or Steam Controller, and are based in Europe, then you may soon become the target of scam attempts. Valve has confirmed that its EU distribution partner was recently hit by a cyberattack, leading to customer information being stolen.

Valve confirmed that the breach at its European hardware distribution partner, CEVA Logistics, was hit by a cyberattack recently. The end result is that EU customers who ordered a Steam Machine or Steam Controller will have had their personal information leaked, including customer name, address, phone number and email address.

Due to this information now being out, it is likely that those impacted will see an uptick in attempted scam calls, emails and text messages. Anyone who ordered a Steam Machine or Steam Controller will now have to be more vigilant when answering calls or texts from unknown numbers, and you'll need to be extra safe when opening any emails, so avoid clicking links and be sure to double check that an email address is legitimate and not spoofed, particularly if the email asks for money or additional personal information.

While customers will need to be aware of all of this, Valve does say that user Steam accounts are safe, as CEVA “does not have access to your payment information, passwords, Steam Guard codes or other information”.

KitGuru Says: There is a good chance that things like your phone number and name were already leaked elsewhere. At this point, I don't think there is a phone number on earth that is truly safe from scam call or text attempts.

While it initially sounded like the Steam Frame VR headset could avoid some of the component price challenges of the Steam Machine and the Steam Deck, that no longer appears to be true. Valve's wireless VR device may also face issues due to Qualcomm chips also becoming more expensive and harder to come by. 

In a recent stream, Valve leaker Tyler McVicker, estimated that the base unit price for the Steam Frame headset would now by higher than $1100, perhaps hundreds of dollars higher due to increased costs over the course of development.

The Steam Frame isn't a device that relies heavily on RAM, but it does use Qualcomm chips and NAND for its storage, both of which are getting more expensive, in line with rising GPU, CPU and RAM costs, and higher prices at the source – fabricators like TSMC, Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and others.

Valve hasn't officially announced its launch plans for the Steam Frame yet, but it is expected to launch before the end of the year. The Steam Frame is a standalone VR platform intended to allow Steam users to play their entire library of games on a giant cinema screen, or to run VR titles directly on the device using an Arm compatibility layer similar to the Proton technology used for Linux. The Steam Frame itself will also be running its own version of SteamOS to enable it to be a completely standalone, wireless VR device.

KitGuru Says: The Valve Index was also expensive for its time and hasn't gotten any cheaper since launch either. VR enthusiasts are kind've already used to the premium, so I'm not sure the price tag will make as much of a difference in the long run.  

Valve has shared new details on the reservation and waitlist system for the Steam Machine. The company now expects to clear the entire reservation queue by the end of 2026, meaning anyone who signed up before today should get their chance to purchase the system sometime between now and late December.

Valve began shipping the Steam Machine at the end of June and has been fulfilling orders daily. Reservation holders are being contacted in the order they were placed following the initial randomisation process. According to Valve, every existing reservation will be served before the end of the year, with purchase emails continuing to roll out steadily. The company also noted that each product and region has its own queue, which can move at different speeds depending on demand.

In some cases, Valve has already reached the end of a regional reservation queue and begun pulling names from the waitlist. A small number of users were mistakenly sent purchase emails immediately, skipping the step where Valve confirms that they have been moved into the reservation queue. Going forward, anyone transitioning from the waitlist will first receive a confirmation message, followed by a purchase email once their position in the queue comes up. Valve emphasised that waitlisted users are not being moved ahead of existing reservations.

For those currently holding a reservation, the expectation is clear. Everyone will receive a purchase email before the end of the year, and once that email arrives, buyers will have 72 hours to complete the order before their slot is passed to the next person. Waitlisted users may still be moved into reservations depending on the product they selected, and Valve will notify them if that happens.

KitGuru Says: Valve appears confident in its production ramp for the Steam Machine, with both reservation and waitlist movement accelerating. If you signed up before today, you should be in line to receive stock before the end of 2026.

The Steam Machine has received FSR 4.1 support through Proton Experimental, as Valve shares more updates. AMD FSR 4.1 Gets Introduced to Steam Machine; Valve Details Steam Machine Order Progress, and CAD File Availability AMD's latest upscaling technology has finally arrived on the Steam Machine. Valve has shared some updates on its newest gaming console on the official website, including the availability of FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) 4.1 upscaling technology for supported games. In the quick Steam Machine updates, the company has stated that FSR 4.1 will now be available through Proton Experimental for supporting FSR games. FSR 4.1 remains […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/valve-brings-fsr-4-1-support-to-steam-machine-shares-reservation-and-waitlist-updates/

Qualcomm, one of the largest suppliers of chips for consumer electronics, ranging from smartphones and laptops, to standalone VR headsets and more, is set to raise the prices of its processors in yet another blow to the consumer electronics market. 

According to a new report from Bloomberg, Qualcomm is set to raise its chip prices by “double digit” percentages. Unfortunately for Valve, the Steam Frame standalone VR device is built around a Qualcomm chip.

It is not just Valve that would be impacted by a significant increase in Qualcomm chip prices. Qualcomm chips are used in all kinds of devices, from ARM-based laptops to smartphones, TVs, and more, so such a move would impact most major tech companies. Aside from increased prices, there is also likely going to be a chip shortage in the coming year too, as most companies rely on TSMC for manufacturing their processors, and TSMC can't keep up with the increasing demand from customers like Apple, Qualcomm, Nvidia and others. The end result will be less chip supply for consumer electronics, as well as increased prices.

The good news for Steam Frame buyers is that Valve already has units produced and ready to go, which won't be impacted by any component cost increases. However, future supply could be impacted, so if you don't get one during the first wave, you could be left paying more later. The same goes for the Steam Machine if RAM and SSD prices continue to climb.

KitGuru Says: The Steam Machine and Steam Frame were both incredibly promising looking products when they were announced last year. Unfortunately, the hardware market has continued to get worse since then. 

Recently, Valve made the official announcement that they would no longer be selling physical Steam gift cards at retailers, claiming that scammers were to blame for this decision. Promising “an even better experience” moving forwards however, Valve has now officially detailed its new Steam wishlists and gifting and improvements.

Taking to their blog to make the announcement, Valve officially unveiled their new improvements to gifting games on Steam, writing:

“Steam gifts are a popular way to send copies of games and digital gift cards to friends and family. Today we’re shipping some great new features that improve the gifting experience, making it easier to send both digital gift cards and games.”

With that, the full list of improvements being made is as follows:

• Guest Checkouts can be used to purchase any game on Steam (previously limited to giftcards and hardware)
• You can now gift games to a user’s email instead of Steam account
• Cross-region gifting improvements (wherein Steam will calculate the cost in your friend's region at checkout)
• You can now purchase and gift someone a game directly from their wishlist

All of these features tie in nicely with Steam’s other major update – that being the overhaul to wishlists. Full details on this aspect can be found HERE, but in essence, Steam now allows you to add categories to your wishlist for far greater levels of organisation and clarity.

All-in-all, this latest update to Steam is highly welcome and should make the act of buying games (for yourself or someone else) far more seamless.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this latest update? Did Steam wishlists need improving? What other features would you like to see added? Let us know down below.

Not just Arc G3-based handhelds, but the classic older-gen gaming handhelds are reaching a nearly $1000 price tag, resulting in reduced sales. Steam Deck Reportedly Lost Significant Momentum After Recent Price Hike With Sales Estimated to Have Declined By 82% Steam Deck has been Valve's most successful product in recent years, consistently ranking among Steam's best-selling products since launch. However, a new analysis by Boiling Steam suggests that the handheld's sales have been impacted significantly following its recent price hike, which has also affected almost every gaming handheld that exists in the market. According to the report, the Steam Deck […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/steam-deck-sales-reportedly-crater-82-after-valves-price-hike-slipping-from-5th-to-14th-on-steam/

The Steam Machine officially launched late last month, but this wasn't Valve's first attempt at bringing PC gaming to the living room. The Steam Machine project first began all the way back in 2015 but failed to gain any traction at the time. For the first time, Valve has spoken openly about why that first iteration of the Steam Machine failed. 

In an interview with Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Valve's Pierre-Loup Griffais explained that while “working with partners is great”, Valve's first Steam Machine failed because they failed to release a good ‘reference' product. Something that would act as a “good example” of what a Steam Machine should offer.

Griffais also added that after the failure of the first Steam Machine, Valve learned that “people just need all their games to be able to have a good experience, you can't just have a subset of the catalog and say this is good”.

While Valve did have a prototype Steam Machine 1.0 back in 2015, it was never put up for sale. Instead, Valve relied on OEMs like Alienware, Zotac and others to make their own Steam Machine hardware, often with worse specs than what Valve had in mind. On top of that, the original SteamOS did not have Proton, the compatibility layer that now enables almost all Windows-based PC games to run on Linux. Steam Machine 1.0 barely had any game support as a result.

“We found out that the only way that this is going to work is if you don't have to do any porting”, Griffais explained. Nowadays thanks to Proton, game developers don't have to do much, if anything, to get a game running on SteamOS, although a bespoke graphics mode can be very helpful for getting newer titles running well on Steam Deck and Steam Machine. Some AAA games have chosen to offer this, including the likes of Cyberpunk 2077 and Spider-Man Remastered.

Valve has fixed those issues with the latest iteration of the Steam Machine, which offers a new base-line performance target, and a much more robust version of SteamOS with greater compatibility for your library of games. At this point, most titles, even unverified ones, will work on SteamOS, but there are some exceptions for certain multiplayer titles that require kernel-level anti-cheat, like GTA Online and Call of Duty.

Unfortunately, the new Steam Machine is in short supply and the waiting list for new stock is backed up to 2027. Due to ongoing issues sourcing memory and SSDs, it is unclear how often Valve will be able to replenish stock, or if it will be able to keep the price point consistent in the long-term.

KitGuru Says: Valve has finally turned SteamOS into a viable gaming platform. Are you considering switching to SteamOS for your next gaming system?