The new Steam library public beta is now live

As we previously reported on, the launch date for the public beta version of Steam’s fancy new library is September 17th. As luck would have it, September 17th is today, and the beta is officially available for all willing participants right now.

The Steam library is getting a makeover to make it better looking, more relevant and more powerful than ever before.

The New Steam Library beta is live now and everyone is invited! ?https://t.co/2xZ1w8xMNm

— Steam (@Steam) September 17, 2019

The new library comes with a whole bunch of improvements, including a brand new library home that shows you game updates, your recently played games, what your friends are up to, and your collections.

You can also add your own ‘shelves’, which are fairly self-explanatory. Shelves allow you to organise your own games into custom collections, such as really custom things like “Games involving tractors” or “Games that heavily feature the colour blue.” You can also simply just organise your games by play-time or genre.

The library also comes with revamped game pages, which are designed to make finding information about games far easier.

I’ve tried the beta for myself and I’ve got to say that it’s looking rather smooth. My only current gripe is that some of the games I own have yet to update their game pictures to the new design, leading to a less cohesive look overall.

To opt into the beta and nab the new library design for yourself, simply follow the instructions below:

1. Open Steam.
2. Click on “Steam” in the upper left corner and then “Settings” (“Preferences” on Mac)
3. On the Account tab, find the “Beta Participation” section and click the “Change” button.
4. Select the “Steam Beta Update” from the drop down list and click “OK”
5. Restart Steam.

For those using Big Picture Mode, follow these instructions instead:

1. Open Steam.
2. Select “Settings” and then “System”
3. Check the “Participate in client beta” option.
4. Restart Steam.

For more information, you can check out the official Valve page here.