"Big Art Mode" in Steam's Big Picture Mode
Image: Valve

Valve has released a new Steam Client beta with some interesting new features, most notably a "Big Art Mode" and a screensaver function when using the handheld/TV-focused Big Picture Mode.

The Big Art mode seems to be inspired from a similar feature in the Decky Loader third-party utility, which replaces the standard side-by-side arrangement with one that dedicates much of the viewport to the art for a selected game, with additional games appearing in a smaller size towards the bottom of the screen.

The screensaver option works along similar lines, showing off that big art or your recent game screenshots in full screen when Steam has been idle for a set amount of time. Additionally, custom screensavers can be copied to a specific directory, with a bouncing logo screensaver provided by Valve as an example.

ultrawide example
The new mode doesn't seem ideally suited to ultrawide monitors - perhaps it would be nice to be able to set the game grid to appear smaller?

To install the Steam beta, select "Beta" in the Steam client update channel area in Steam's system settings, download the update, and restart the Steam client. Once installed, you can select the new view mode in Settings > Home, and the screensaver option in Settings > Customisation.

Other changes in the new beta include improved startup performance, better optimised game recording for some DX12 games and fixes for frame-rate hitches when taking screenshots in Windows while running DX11 and DX12 games, amongst other improvements.

What do you make of the new features? Let me know in the comments below.

[source steamcommunity.com]