Multi-Track Audio Support for Game Recording

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mapX 3 Jul @ 9:29am

Hi Valve team and fellow Steam users,

I’d love to suggest an upgrade to the built-in Steam Game Recording feature: support for capturing multiple audio channels separately — not just different programs, but distinct audio output channels from one system.

Why it’s important:

Many of us use setups where audio is routed through different virtual channels. For example:
• Game audio is routed through the “Game” channel
• Voice chat (e.g. Discord) through the “Chat” channel
• Microphone is on its own input
(This is done via tools like Voicemeeter, SteelSeries Sonar, NVIDIA Broadcast, Elgato Wave Link, or similar)

Right now, Steam only allows recording from the default audio output or one selected device, which combines everything into a single audio mix. This means:
• No control over volume balancing later
• No way to mute just Discord or game audio in editing
• Loss of flexibility for content creators and streamers

What I’m suggesting:

Steam should support multi-channel audio recording, where each logical audio route (Game, Chat, Mic, etc.) can be captured as a separate audio track in the video file (like OBS does). Even if this requires choosing multiple channels manually, it would be a massive step forward.

Thanks for reading, and I hope this feature can be considered for future updates!

Last edited by mapX; 3 Jul @ 10:53am

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Showing 1-15 of 21 comments

Billy Herrington 3 Jul @ 9:33am

+rep

bidulless 3 Jul @ 9:43am

hello
so it means , despite using, let's say discord or any voice tools, you want to select the audio channel that do not use it , the game's sounds only and not your general mixxer ?
if yes so count me in

nsx 3 Jul @ 9:43am

This is a great idea and definitely something that’s missing. Valve has been steadily adding genuinely useful features (like the in-game system performance overlay) and this would be no exception. Other recording tools like Nvidia ShadowPlay do have multi-track audio, but it's not perfect - for example, ShadowPlay records all system sounds to the second track, which isn't ideal. Meanwhile, Mirillis Action! allows you to select exactly what you want to record, which is incredibly useful. It would be fantastic to see something like that built right into Steam, without needing extra software

Steve Rambo 3 Jul @ 9:46am

As long as I support LGBTQ+ community, I will support this topic and his author! That's really good improvement

sal1aN 3 Jul @ 9:48am

This feature would be one of the biggest quality of life improvements possible. I hope Steam will add this

кракаділ в вену 3 Jul @ 9:58am

mapX 3 Jul @ 10:48am

Originally posted by bidulless:
hello
so it means , despite using, let's say discord or any voice tools, you want to select the audio channel that do not use it , the game's sounds only and not your general mixxer ?
if yes so count me in

Thanks for your comment!

To clarify — this isn’t just about selecting audio from different apps like Discord or the game. I’m talking about recording multiple audio channels from a single audio device.

For example, on my PC:
• Game audio goes to the “Game” channel
• Discord voice goes to the “Chat” channel
(both handled separately by Windows or tools like Voicemeeter or NVIDIA Broadcast)

Right now, Steam only records from the default output or a single selected device/channel, so I can’t capture both tracks at once. I’d like Steam to support multi-channel audio capture, so it can record separate channels (Game / Chat) as distinct tracks in the same video, or at least record them all simultaneously.

This would make editing much easier and allow full control of voice/game balance after recording.

mapX 3 Jul @ 10:50am

Originally posted by mapX:
Hi Valve team and fellow Steam users,

I’d like to suggest an important improvement for the built-in game recording feature on Steam: the ability to record multiple separate audio channels.

Currently, the recorder seems to only capture one audio mix — either game audio, Discord, or microphone — but not all as separate audio tracks. This creates difficulties during editing, especially for streamers and content creators who want to:
• Adjust volume levels independently (e.g., reduce Discord chatter without affecting game audio)
• Mute/unmute certain audio sources in post-production
• Clean up recordings with better control over audio mix

Many modern setups have game audio, voice chat (e.g., Discord), and microphone routed to separate virtual devices. Being able to record these as individual audio tracks (like how OBS does it) would be a huge help.

I hope this feature can be considered for future updates. It would bring Steam Recording much closer to professional tools and help many creators who want to keep things simple without third-party software.

Thanks for your time and amazing work on Steam

Update for clarification:
Just to be clear — I’m not only asking to record separate apps (like Discord and a game), but to record separate audio channels (such as Game, Chat, Aux, etc.) that are routed through a single device using software like Voicemeeter, SteelSeries Sonar, Elgato Wave Link, or even Windows’ own audio enhancements.

In my setup, for example:
• Game audio is routed through the “Game” channel
• Discord voice goes through the “Chat” channel
• Mic has its own input channel

But Steam can only capture one output mix — it doesn’t see or handle these separate audio channels. I’d like to see support for multi-channel audio capture (either as separate tracks or as full multi-channel streams), so we can record all our routed audio sources properly and edit them later.