Valve wants Steam users to rediscover their game catalogs with a major update to the TV-friendly Big Picture mode.

The new version is available now for Steam beta users, and is packed with design changes. Most noteworthy is a new library menu, which puts a much greater emphasis on friend activity and games you own but haven’t actually played yet. Valve has also revamped individual game pages and provided faster access to your own profile.

You can try the new mode out yourself by opening Steam > Settings, then going to the Account tab and hitting the Change button under the Beta Participation section. Select “Steam Beta Update,” then restart the software. Finally, switch to Big Picture mode through the View menu.

Big Picture
Updated UI navigation model in library
Updated game detail view in library
Updated in-game overlay
Updated store search
Added library search
Updated users’ community profile
Added native Big Picture UI for viewing your achievements, leaderboards, screenshots, artwork, videos, and Workshop Items

Music
Added support for FLAC, OGG Vorbis, and M4A (both AAC and Apple Lossless)
Added the ability to seek within a playing track

Streaming
Added initial support for OSX 10.8+ as a Streaming host. Video is currently streamed, audio and game controllers are being worked on.
SteamOS
Fixed duplicate entries in audio output selection

Posted: Sep 03, 2015 5:15 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum