Steam cloud saves have become a prominent feature across gaming platforms including PCs and consoles as today’s games use realistic graphics and generate large amounts of data that need to be saved. In-game progress is a fundamental aspect of every game regardless of the platform or genre. It often happens that locally saved game data gets corrupted and the game progress is lost. However, cloud saves provide a solution by saving game data virtually, independent of the platform or the hardware being used.
An Insight to Steam Cloud Saves
Steam cloud is a feature that allows the usage of cloud storage by games and platforms that require saving game files. Anyone can purchase Steam accounts to save storage. Everything from the storage of in-game progress, settings, purchases, and profiles is covered using this feature. In-game purchases are a common aspect of digital gaming nowadays and require payments using game credits which are often bought using real money. Steam cloud secures the account information provided for this purpose from getting deleted or breached, as the data is saved on the cloud.
Although Steam cloud saves is a free feature for games on PC, the games played on certain consoles require a subscription. The storage of game progress and other data is automatically done by the Steam cloud, so the players can access it through other platforms by simply logging in to Steam. Furthermore, Steam cloud saves also allow retrieval of previously saved data and resuming the game from where the player left it.
How Steam Cloud Saves Work
Steam boasts an automated process of synchronizing the saved data from the game to cloud storage whenever a gaming session ends. When there is an issue during this sync, the player gets prompted to manually upload the locally saved game data to the ud to prevent gaming fraudscloud. Another option is to download the previously saved game data from the cloud in order to restart the sync. Sometimes, however, the players do not get an automated prompt for any of these options. In that case, players can manually access the files, and there are also functionalities to allow the transfer of cloud saves to or from Windows and Mac operating systems.
The download process involves logging in to the Steam website using the players’ registered username and password, along with entering an additional two-factor kind of Steam guard code when required. A list appears showing the games that the player uses cloud saves for. The ‘Show files’ option then shows the saved files of the particular game on clicking. The desired files can then be downloaded using the download button and then saved on the computer or console.
Benefits of Cloud Storage in Gaming
The functionality of saving and synchronizing data through cloud storage has become a necessity in our lives, with large amounts of data being stored on the cloud. Although the free space in smartphones, PCs, and gaming consoles makes users feel good, the perks of cloud storage run out when the service encounters technical difficulties or doesn’t work properly. Fortunately, there are ways to recover data manually from Steam cloud saves in case of syncing problems.
Considering those instances where the gamer wants to play alone without connecting to servers for multiplayer mode, the sync will simply not happen. Also, when they want to show off their in-game achievements to a friend and the location doesn’t offer sufficient internet, the game progress that is indicated might not be completely updated. For these reasons, Steam cloud saves come in handy when accessing games through different platforms, internet speeds, and locations.
How to Enable Steam Cloud Saves
In the scenario where game data is not saved or properly synced to the cloud, the solution is to select ‘Properties’ by right-clicking on the particular game from the Steam library. Followed by this, the gamer must click the checkbox indicating ‘Keep games saved on Steam Cloud for (name of the desired game). This is one of the solutions to make the saved games appear on the menu. However, if this method doesn’t work, the above-mentioned manual technique must be used. It requires manually navigating to the Steam Cloud page and looking for the desired game to download its respective saved files.
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