Steam Game Recording review

Steam Game Recording turns the Steam overlay into a rewindable recorder. In background mode it captures all gameplay within a disk space limit you set, overwriting old footage as you play, so you can go back and clip a moment you never planned to save. Record on demand works like a normal start and stop button. A timeline shows markers from achievements, screenshots, your own bookmarks and, in timeline-enhanced games, events sent by the game itself. Valve says it uses the dedicated video encoding hardware on AMD and NVIDIA cards to keep CPU use low. Clips can be exported to MP4, sent to your phone through the Steam Mobile App or shared with a temporary link. It works with non-Steam games as long as the overlay runs. It records only games, not the desktop, and there are no webcam or scene tools, so it is a clipping tool rather than a production recorder.

Who it is for

Players whose games run through Steam and who want rewindable recording without another app.

Price

Built into the Steam client, no paid plan.

A new built-in system for creating and sharing your gameplay footage
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 10, 2026.

Key features

• Record in background or record on demand modes
• Timeline with player-added and game-added event markers
• Per-game background recording settings, including infinite recording
• Uses AMD or NVIDIA GPU video encoding hardware
• Export clips to MP4 or send them to another device or the Steam Mobile App

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Works with any game that allows the Steam Overlay, including non-Steam titles
• Strength: Records games, not your desktop
• Strength: Fully functional on Steam Deck
• Weakness: Recordings are stored in a raw format until you export a clip
• Weakness: Will not capture the desktop or other programs
• Weakness: No webcam, scenes or overlay layouts

Key facts

• Recording modes: Record in background, Record on demand
• Export format: MP4
• Developer support: SDK and API for Steam Timeline
• Steam Deck: Fully functional

Where it ranks

Steam Game Recording is No. 5 in our Best Game Recording Software verdict.