Unreal Engine 4 developers looking to ship on Steam should know that UE4 includes built-in support for integrating many features of the Steam platform into your Windows and macOS games.
Networking and online features are handled through the Steam Online Subsystem plugin. When it’s enabled for your game, you will have access to the following Steam features through UE4’s unified Online Subsystem API:
• Online sessions and invites.
• Matchmaking via peer-to-peer lobbies or dedicated servers
• Firewall/NAT negotiation for peer-to-peer multiplayer via Steam Networking
• Player authentication - new in 4.20
• Rich presence - new in 4.19
• Voice chat
• Friends lists
• Stats and leaderboards
• Achievements
In addition, UE4 supports additional Steam features outside of the online subsystem:
• Steam Audio
• Steam VR
• Steam Controllers
UE4 has always shipped with Steam support, and recently we have made progress with implementing new features and improvements, such as rich presence support in 4.19 and player authentication support in 4.20. Additionally, we’ve enhanced our Steam leaderboard implementation to be more consistent with online subsystems for other platforms.
Steam support in UE4 is better than ever, so jump in and give it a try. You can also check out the following plugins in the Unreal Engine Marketplace:
UWorks - A plugin which provides complete Steamworks integration for both C++ and Blueprints.
Steam Beacons - A Steam plugin that enables you to easily create and manage player parties, which can be made without loading into a lobby map, and can be done from the main menu.
SubsystemConfigurator - An easy-to-use plugin that allows you to control the Steam Online Subsystem from the project settings menu.