Whereas VR followers proceed to endure the lengthy watch for Valve’s latest VR headset, the Steam Frame, every part surrounding it’s being improved within the meantime. The brand new SteamVR 2.17 replace is an enormous one, and the primary main launch because the introduction of model 2.16 again in June. It appears Valve is extra prepared than ever to launch the Body, however there’s nonetheless no official date simply but.
With model 2.17, Valve has made extra Steam options VR-accessible, together with common quality-of-life design modifications. Customers now have easy accessibility to achievements, neighborhood guides, and notes – all of which we’ve taken as a right on a traditional desktop setup. Many enhancements additionally come to Steam Hyperlink, which the Steam Body will closely depend on as a “streaming-first” headset.
Regardless of earlier hypothesis, a good leaker dismissed the idea of the Steam Frame launching this week, which kicked off with Labor Day in america on Monday. Up to now, that prediction has held, however we’re eager to see what Valve might quickly introduce following the large SteamVR 2.17 replace. We’ve received all of the patch notes down beneath should you’re searching for each element.
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Costs appropriate as of August twentieth, 2026.
SteamVR 2.17 patch notes
Normal:
- Extra in-game Steam options are actually accessible in VR, together with viewing achievements, neighborhood guides, and notes.
- The Fast Entry Menu (acquainted to Steam Deck customers) is now accessible on the VR Dashboard bar, integrating notifications, quantity, brightness, and battery standing.
- The VR Dashboard bar now exposes shortcuts to widespread duties on hover, similar to exiting and redocking.
- Added new slider in Fast Entry to regulate environmental and digital camera brightness.
- Overlay apps might be give up instantly inside the dashboard.
- Improved orientation of overlays positioned above or beneath the participant.
- Fast Entry Menu reveals batteries for added VR units.
- Refined look of seize handles (for shifting / resizing frames)
- Seize handles (theater / dashboard / torn-off / keyboard) might be moved in depth utilizing thumbstick
- Hold floating frames centered when resizing
- Up to date Laser Mouse look
- Up to date theater mode placement
- Recenter (lengthy press system button) is cancellable (B button)
- Fastened circumstances of SteamVR dashboard bar disappearance
- Present consumer notification when headset framerate modifications
- Transfer much less ceaselessly used window controls to “Extra Choices” Menu, and added choice to toggle curvature.
- Enhance dashboard placement and movement habits. New consumer desire tune laser pointer size (Superior -> Dashboard -> Laser Pointer Size)
- Repair lacking dashboard icons for non-Steam VR apps.
- Repair stale Per-App Video Settings when switching the dialog from one app to a different, then again once more.
- Surroundings dimming now dealt with in a unified method. Customers might tune surroundings brightness in each theater and non-theater modes underneath VR Settings.
- Fastened some rendering points associated to dashboard / overlay cursor visibility
- Room view now solely pauses enter to apps when deliberately enabled and set to a mode aside from “Translucent”
- Repair for crash when taking screenshots.
- Repair bug with headset initialization on third occasion headset when many physique trackers are in use.
Steam Hyperlink (Streaming):
- Improved VR streaming on sluggish connections
- Repair stutters when utilizing Steam Hyperlink on NVIDIA playing cards.
- Repair a problem inflicting 1 body to be dropped each few seconds.
- Fastened being unable to change energetic laser pointer hand when utilizing hand monitoring
- Quite a few stability enhancements
- Provides preliminary help for USB streaming. Observe: Requires new Steam Consumer Beta.
- Repair loading spinner flickering when framerate in sport is low.
- Repair case the place improper framerates may present in SteamVR Settings.
- Latency enhancements.
- Fastened scene dimming when dashboard is up.
- Added help for Distinction Adaptive Sharpening (CAS) previous to encoding. Will be tweaked in SteamVR Settings -> Steam Hyperlink -> Sharpen picture earlier than encoding.
- Forestall a number of circumstances that might trigger video corruption on NVIDIA playing cards when utilizing Steam Hyperlink.
OpenXR:
- Repair XR_EXT_view_configurations_changed occasion returning width for each the really useful width and top.
- Repair XrEventDataUserPresenceChangedEXT’s session parameter being unset when utilizing XR_EXT_user_presence
- Improved integrations between HMDs with cameras and chaperone
- Added help for 32-bit OpenXR functions. Customers shall be prompted to set SteamVR as their default OpenXR runtime after putting in this Beta, which can arrange the 32-bit runtime alongside the 64-bit runtime.
Linux:
- Extra enhancements to wired headset help on Linux (which beforehand required third-party add-on layers)
- Enhancements to stability and logging of error states on Linux.
- Repair crash utilizing Steam Hyperlink on Linux when video games submit invalid textures.
- Enhance streaming restoration when utilizing Steam Hyperlink on Linux.
- Improved help on vrgames that invert nearZ/farZ
Builders
- Added setting to disable vr streaming auto-connect on resume
- Added setting to disable chaperone bounds
- Repair for EVROverlayFlags.MinimalControlBar overlay dealing with
- Repair OpenXR bug with picture submission for sure non-standard picture sizes
Supply: Steam Community
Apart from this main SteamVR replace, extra components are falling into place in time for the Steam Body launch. The list of Steam Frame compatible games grew to triple digits final week, now with 130 titles (on the time of writing) on the ‘Nice on Body’ part of the Steam retailer, discovered here. Each the Steam Deck and Steam Machine prominently function their respective ‘Nice on’ sections if you boot into the system, so we will in all probability anticipate the identical with the Body.