Steam Now Has a Built-In TPM and Secure Boot Check

A new feature being tested in the Steam client is about to save many players a major headache. The latest beta update adds a simple check to see if your PC has the Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 security features enabled—settings that are becoming mandatory for many new multiplayer games.

Checking your status now takes just a couple of clicks. Just go to the "Help" menu in Steam's top bar, select "System Information," and look for the relevant entries. Previously, you had to dig into your motherboard's BIOS settings for this, which was a hassle for less tech-savvy users. The need for this tool has become urgent with upcoming blockbusters like Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, as both games use advanced anti-cheat software that requires Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 to be enabled. Without them, the games simply won't run, which has already caused a wave of frustration in the gaming community.

Many modern pre-built PCs already have these features enabled by default, but the owner might not even know it. This new Steam option provides a clear and instant answer. If the check shows that Secure Boot is disabled, it can almost always be enabled in the BIOS/UEFI. As for the TPM 2.0 module, it's typically built into recent generations of CPUs or can be a discrete part of the motherboard.

For now, the feature is only available in the beta client, but it's expected to roll out to all Steam users in a future update. In a related move, Valve has also started collecting anonymous statistics on these parameters through the annual Steam Hardware Survey to better gauge how ready the community is for these new requirements.

Interestingly, this isn't the only recent update from Valve. While some engineers were working on these system checks for gamers, others were preparing a major visual overhaul for the Steam storefront.