Valve has added an experimental video codec called Pyrowave to Steam Remote Play, shipping it in the Steam Client Preview/Beta channel on September 21, 2026.
The codec is switched off by default. Valve’s own description trades a large amount of bandwidth for very low latency.
The beta changelog gives it a single line: "Added an experimental video codec, Pyrowave, which allows high bandwidth, low latency video streaming".
A separate post in the Steam Remote Play discussion group carries the detail. It came from a Valve-badged account posting under the handle slouken, at 5:12 pm Pacific on September 21, 2026.
Who wrote Pyrowave and what it does differently
Valve credits the codec to a named developer. The post calls Pyrowave "a high bandwidth, low latency video codec created by Hans-Kristian Arntzen, with some unique characteristics that make it an interesting option for Steam Remote Play".
The work happens on the graphics card. Valve says the codec "uses the GPU to encode and decode frames to achieve extremely low end to end latency with a good network".
It also carries options for more color precision. HDR is selected automatically when both the host and the client support it, according to Valve.
YUV 4:4:4 is available but not on by default. Valve says it costs slightly more bandwidth and processing time, and points to desktop streaming or reading text on a 4K display as the cases where it helps.
The bandwidth and bitrate numbers
Bandwidth is the headline caveat. Valve says Pyrowave "uses 5-10 times the amount of bandwidth of other streaming codecs", and recommends computers connected directly to the router with at least Gigabit ethernet.
Automatic bitrate can be turned off on a capped network. Valve puts the manual range at 100 Mbit/s to 500 Mbit/s.
The Remote Play performance graph can be enabled during a stream to check the result. Valve describes total video latency as encode plus network plus decode plus display.
Which platforms have it and which are still gated
Pyrowave is live now in the Steam beta on macOS and Windows, according to Valve’s post.
Linux is gated behind a second opt-in. Valve says it works there only with the experimental SteamRT3 Steam Client enabled, which sits in System Settings.
Mobile has to wait. The post says Pyrowave is "coming soon to the Steam Link app for mobile devices" and gives no date.
Even where it has shipped, it stays opt-in. Valve says the switch is in the Remote Play advanced client settings, next to the options added when Steam Deck OLED gained HDR Remote Play and AV1 streaming.
Proton Experimental shipped the same day
The Proton Experimental changelog carries an entry dated 2026-09-21, the same calendar day as the client beta. Valve has not said the two releases were coordinated.
That entry folds in all changes from Proton 11.0-2. It also lists thirteen newly playable titles, among them Blair Witch VR, City Car Driving and Bloody Zombies.
Two fixes stand out. Ragnarok: The New World is listed as playable on devices other than Steam Decks, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided should be playable again on AMD GPUs after a Proton 11 regression.
Xalia accounts for much of the rest. Valve lists fixes for VITAL, Fallout: New Vegas and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009), plus Xalia being disabled for Final Fantasy XI’s gamepad configuration window.
Wine Mono moved to 11.3.0 and Xalia to 0.5.0. That is a shorter list than the Proton Experimental update that fixed Borderlands 4 and STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT earlier in September.
What Valve has not confirmed
Valve has not said when Pyrowave will leave experimental status, or whether it is meant to become a default option rather than a toggle.
The Steam Link timing is open, and the changelog gives no root cause for the AMD regression behind the Deus Ex fix.
Early reception looks warm. The beta post carried 119 up votes, no down votes and four comments when checked on September 22, 2026, a day after the previous Steam Deck beta client update.
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