Steam Deck has received support for transferring game installations over a local network, which allows you to copy them from a PC to Steam Deck without re-downloading from the Internet. The new feature appeared in the Steam Deck beta update released last week. The update should significantly reduce Steam traffic due to the large volume of files of modern games.
To access the update, you need to activate the Steam beta version on console and in the client on PC. Next, when you select a game to install, Steam will automatically check if it’s already on any device on the network. If a game is detected, the transfer process begins.
Installation of local network games also works between PCs. If the source device loses connection to the network during the transfer process or there is no more available content on it, Steam will continue to download from servers on the Internet.
You can configure settings that determine which PCs your Steam Deck or PC can download games from. Steam defaults to “My own devices only”, but there are also “My friends only” and “Any user” options if you want to get games from a friend or family member’s computer. Unfortunately, Steam does not yet support streaming games from Steam Deck or PC in Big Picture mode.
In addition to offloading the servers, the option will be pleasant for those users who for some reason have limited Internet traffic, as well as owners of a narrow communication channel.
Source: The Verge, Steam
