Valve launches two big Steam updates, and one of them arrives at a perfect time

Date:
Thu, 23 Jul 2026 15:50:33 +0000

Description:
Valve continues to make the user experience on Steam easier via numerous updates, and two recent updates serve as major overhauls.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Steam gifting and wishlists
have received big improvements in recent updates from Valve Users can now
gift games to friends and family directly via email Wishlists now have categories and a new 'Demo Available' highlight Valve's updates to Steam have consistently enhanced the user experience for PC gamers, and fortunately, two of its most recent additions continue that trend.

On Steam News Hub , Valve announced two major improvements to the Steam gifting system and wishlists: users can now gift games to friends and family via guest checkout, without being limited to digital gift cards and hardware purchases, and gift games via email. As for wishlists: categories are now available, with options to filter the wishlist via category name, a new 'Demo Available' highlight once a demo becomes available, and share a link to a specific category or filtered view of a wishlist, ultimately allowing users
to sort further and organize wishlisted titles. Latest Videos From Watch full video here:

Both updates have made wishlisting and gifting much easier, especially since the latter now has cross-region gifting. Essentially, in a scenario where a friend is in a higher-priced region, Steam will 'calculate the cost in your friend's region' at checkout but it's important to note that this must be a friend for this type of gift to work. New wishlist update (Image credit: Valve) Most importantly, the improvements made to Steam wishlists should come in handy for future purposes beyond 2026, but also arrive at the ideal time considering the very busy game release schedule this year. You may like Valve Steam Controller (2026) review Steam gets huge tags overhaul for tailored recommendations and 'helping players identify the games that best fit their interests' SteamOS is about to get better on Intel-powered handhelds thanks
to Valve

Not only do gamers have plenty of triple-A titles to look forward to on Steam (notably in September), with the likes of The Blood of Dawnwalker , Onimusha: Way of the Sword , and Control Resonant all in the same month, but numerous indie games are arriving too, like Blackwood .

The demo highlight is a necessary update as well, since there are a significant number of games that either launch in early access or have been
in development for years with long-running demo requests (i.e., Spine ). Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Updates as such are great for SteamOS PCs, especially the Steam Machine, and the more improvements made for each feature on the Steam client, the better. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/gaming/pc-gaming/valve-launches-two-big-steam-update s-and-one-of-them-arrives-at-a-perfect-time


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