Valve has released an update for its Steam client that brings a number of enhancements to the Steam Remote Play feature, alongside fixes for Steam Input, the overlay, and the Workshop.
The most notable addition for Remote Play is the introduction of a specific 59.94 frames per second (FPS) framerate limit. This precise setting is intended to better align with the refresh rates of many televisions, aiming to prevent dropped frames that could occur when previously using a general 60 FPS limit on a 59.94 Hz display. Valve also states that the update has reduced frame drops when the framerate limit is set to automatic.
Several other issues affecting Remote Play have been addressed. These include fixing a black screen issue when hardware encoding is disabled, preventing offline devices from appearing as streamable, resolving instances where the client video decoder was overloaded with unlimited bandwidth enabled, and correcting mouse coordinates for input-only streaming.
Beyond Remote Play, the update includes general improvements and fixes across other Steam features. The Steam Workshop has seen its system for managing subscribed item updates re-worked. The in-game overlay has been patched to prevent it from holding a reference that could impede games attempting to tear down and recreate their renderers after a Direct3D 12 device or driver failure.
For Steam Input, the update includes several adjustments for the Steam Controller, such as modifying the Gyro Calibration Threshold to be less prone to accidental activation and making software calibration an optional replacement for hardware calibration. Support has also been added for wired and wireless PDP Afterglow Wave Controllers for Nintendo Switch, as well as Turtle Beach controllers for Nintendo Switch 2. Fixes have been applied to issues with the Apex 5 controller appearing as multiple devices and problems with gyro stutter.
Steam Controller firmware also received attention, with fixes for duplicated trackpad samples, unintended host device wake-ups during shutdown, and occasional repeated B button presses.
Platform-specific fixes are also included, such as a crash fix for manual game recording on Linux and a fix for steamwebhelper crashes when hardware acceleration is enabled on NVIDIA GPUs. On macOS, chat windows will no longer appear over fullscreen game windows when opened in the Steam overlay. For VR users, a fix addresses a case where Steam incorrectly reported SteamVR had crashed on its last run.
While third-party tools like Apollo and Moonlight are currently popular for in-home game streaming, Valve's continued refinement of Steam Remote Play suggests a commitment to improving its native solution for users looking to stream games from their PC to other devices on their network.