Steam allows transferring games on the local network

Although it has several competitors, Steam is currently one of the leading digital stores in the market. There are multiple reasons for this, such as being the industry’s oldest and most colossal catalog.

In addition to its compatibility with multiple platforms, including Linux, which plays an essential role for Valve, and its constant addition of features, make most users prefer it.

Valve works to keep Steam up to date, continually researching new features and improving existing ones, whether to improve the gaming experience, the shopping experience, or the more social aspect of the platform. In which we can add our friends as contacts or negotiate transactions to buy and sell digital assets, whether they are of a particular game or those created and maintained by the platform itself.

Today we will talk about an exciting new feature for users. Steam now allows transferring games directly through the local network.

Steam allows transferring games on the local network

This new feature is a handy tool for users who share a local network with other players. If you want to install a game on your device (a computer or a Steam Deck) and another system on the local network already has it, the game files will be transferred from the other system directly instead of downloading from the Internet servers.

This results in an improvement in download speed. Because the data transfer speed over a local network is always much faster than broadband connections, downloading in traditional mode can take up to an hour or more, especially when dealing with bad connections or high server traffic. However, local network transfer only takes a few minutes.

Steam client beta versions

Currently, users of the beta versions of the Steam client for PC and Steam Deck can use this feature. However, users can decide whether to use it or use the more conventional online downloading method.

Available settings

• Disable this option: The client does not search for available devices or allow local game file transfers.
• Transfer between own devices only: Streaming media between devices on your LAN connected to the same Steam account is possible. However, you are allowing transfers only between your own devices.
• Transfer between Steam friends: It is possible to transfer between devices connected to your network on which your Steam friends. Allowing only transfers with friends.
• Transfer with any user: It is possible to transfer between any device connected to your LAN and running Steam.

You are probably wondering about data protection and how privacy may be affected by the use of this new feature. At this point, it is crucial to clarify that only generic game files are transferred, not those about user profiles, game saves, etc.

In addition, all data received from another Steam client is verified and must match the expected content. Any corrupted or invalid data is ignored and will not be installed.

Header: Steam