In a recent Beta Client Update for the Steam Deck, Valve has added a new feature to help deal with unwanted chat messages on Steam. According to the patch notes, you can now directly report 1-on-1 chat messages in a couple of taps. There’s a new ‘Suspicious Chat’ warning easily accessible from within the chat window.

Any seasoned Steam user has likely received a friend request or a profile comment from a suspicious account – whether it be a bot or a user with malicious intent. It’s usually easy enough to ignore these, but if you end up chatting 1-on-1 with a suspicious account, Valve’s new safeguarding feature is a helpful tool.

Suspicious chat warning for Steam Deck users

The update, dated November 7, is currently available in the Beta channel for Steam Deck users. You can opt in to the beta by pressing the Steam button on your Deck, navigating to system settings, and finding the ‘System Update Channel’ menu under the ‘Beta Participation’ heading.

We have just shipped an updated Steam Deck Client to the Preview/Beta channel.

Friends & Chat:

• Suspicious or harassing 1 on 1 chat messages can now be reported directly in the chat window by selecting the message and pressing ‘Options’ or from the ‘Suspicious Chat’ warning. You can optionally block and/or unfriend the other user while submitting the report.

Desktop Mode

• Fixed a bug that could cause the system to re-enter sleep when waking up.

Source: Steam

This relatively simple update is a nice addition for Steam Deck users. Generally speaking, you should probably avoid adding anyone on Steam you don’t already know, as many accounts that send you a seemingly random friend request often aren’t doing it for a good reason.

If you do get a random friend request and the account sends you an unusual link, you probably have some decent Counter-Strike skins (or something similar) in your inventory for a scammer to try and swindle. When faced with activity like this, the new ‘Suspicious Chat’ warning is your best bet – then you can block or unfriend the user. In other Steam Deck news, there’s a recent Proton Experimental update that finally fixes loading times on select games; Xbox Game Studios titles in particular.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.