John Paul M. Joaquin Tech 02.20.2023 04:Feb AM EST

Steam Deck’s Latest Update Lets You Transfer Games From PCs

Getting games for your Steam Deck just became much easier to do.

Valve recently released a Steam Deck update that would allow users to skip long download and update times to get the games they already have on their computers.

This new feature still requires users to enable Steam's beta on both the Steam Deck and Steam client on their PCs, per The Verge.

Steam Deck Local Game Transfer Details

Valve mentioned on its Steam Support page that its latest Steam Deck update now allows users to use their local network to transfer games over from their PCs to their handheld consoles, reducing internet traffic and speeding up installs and updates.

The update also removes the need to go through the whole download process again for a game they already have on their PC, and with an average modern PC capable of transferring game content at a rate of 100 Mbps, Steam Deck users wouldn't need to worry about the time much.

The new feature is ideal for a home setup with multiple PCs or Steam Decks on the same local network, allowing a Steam Deck user to install or update that game by transferring files directly from that PC.

Interestingly, Steam users can also use this feature to update and install games from one PC to another, allowing multiple users to update their games using others' PCs, per Steam Deck HQ.

Unfortunately, only the file content part of the original game is transferred, meaning that Steam Deck users wouldn't receive the save games or configuration files they have on their PCs, resulting in different game progression between the two devices.

Additionally, all data to be transferred from one Steam client to another is verified and must match the expected content. Any invalid or corrupt data is ignored and wouldn't be installed, preventing any crashes from happening on users' Steam Decks.

The feature works by first having a user's Steam Deack check if other PCs are running Steam on their local area network (LAN) that could transfer the needed game directly to their device.

How Local Game Transfer Works

Once their Steam Deck finds a potential PC, the device will ask the Steam backend server to contact the other PC's Steam client and start a game file transfer if local network transfers are enabled and possible. If the transfer is accepted, the target PC will try to download as much content as possible from the PC.

Should the Steam Deck lose connection to the target PC, the device will fall back to using public Steam content servers to download the remainder.

However, the Steam clients of both devices must be online and see each other directly on the same LAN, meaning that they couldn't download anything while the transfer happens. Additionally, both devices must be in the Steam Deck beta branch to access the game transfer feature.

Moreover, the target game must be up-to-date on the target PC, which could be the Steam Deck user's own, or a friend's.