protonscr

Steam Overlay Video Playback (Game Recording) Choppy during Gameplay

steamclosed overlayStreaming
ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#13069 · opened 2026-04-07 by lechip · updated 2026-07-22 · 5 comments · github
Llechip 2026-04-07 github

Your system information

  • Steam client version (build number or date): 1773426488
  • Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): CachyOS (6.19.11-1-cachyos, KDE Plasma 6.6.3)
  • Opted into Steam client beta?: NO
  • Have you checked for system updates?: YES
  • Steam Logs: steam-logs.tar.gz
  • GPU: AMD (Asus PRIME OC Radeon RX 9070 16 GB)

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

When using the new Steam Game Recording feature, viewing or editing a clip via the Steam Overlay during active gameplay results in a choppy, stuttering video player.

Expected behavior: The video playback in the overlay should be buttery smooth while the game is running, matching the performance on Windows or when viewing the clips on Linux with the game closed.

Actual behavior: The playback stutters heavily when the game is running and the overlay is brought up to view the recordings.

Additional Context & Troubleshooting:

  • Video demonstration: Steam recording choppy playback during gameplay (CachyOS)
  • System Log (Burgerport): https://paste.cachyos.org/p/61f8c64.log
  • Hardware: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, AMD Radeon RX 9070 16 GB, 32 GB DDR5-6000 RAM.
  • Note on Hardware Change: I recently upgraded to the Ryzen 7 7800X3D from an Intel Core i5-12600. On the older Intel processor, this feature worked perfectly fine without stuttering.
  • Troubleshooting steps already attempted:
    1. Changing Proton Versions (tested proton-cachy-os, standard Proton, and Proton Experimental).
    2. Installing 32-bit Decoding Libraries (lib32-mesa-vdpau and lib32-libva-mesa-driver).
    3. Switching KDE Plasma session from Wayland to X11 to see if Wayland was deprioritizing the overlay.
    4. Running the game through Gamescope (gamescope -W 1920 -H 1080 -f -- %command%). This improved the playback slightly, but it is still not entirely smooth.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

  1. Enable Steam Game Recording (background recording).
  2. Launch a game via Proton.
  3. Open the Steam Overlay while the game is actively running.
  4. Attempt to watch the playback or edit a recorded clip.
  5. Observe the choppy and stuttering video playback.
IInheritNode 2026-05-18 github

I have been experiencing this same issue on CachyOS for a while now. Additionally I would like to add that this is specific to the In-Game Overlay as viewing the Game Recording from the Steam Client worksjust as expected.

Ffynzhak 2026-06-08 github

It may be related, but for me the entire overlay is choppy while a game is running. I notice it especially in the controller configuration.
I'm running Arch on kernel 7.0.11 with a Ryzen 7 7700, 64GB RAM, and a Radeon RX 9070 XT.

However, when using the LTS kernel (specifically 6.18.34-1-lts) the overlay runs just fine while a game is running.

Llechip 2026-06-11 github

@fynzhak this is correct, reverting to LTS on 6.18.* solves the issue. There must be some regression on the newer kernel

Ffynzhak 2026-07-17 github

Just an update that performance of the overlay itself seems normal with kernel 7.1.3.
I do not record my games though, so I'm not sure if recordings play back at acceptable speed on this kernel.

Llechip 2026-07-22 github

@fynzhak you are correct. I am on 7.1.4-1 and the issue is no more.

Proton versions

Launch lines