Valve Begin Testing 2-Factor Authentication For Steam

👤by Tim Harmer Comments 📅16.04.2015 14:33:51



Lack of robust two-factor authentication for Steam has always been something of a bugbear given the inherent value of many accounts, and has only grown in importance as the Marketplace has boomed and item trading became commonplace. Whilst a verification system has been in place for some time - when logging in on an unknown PC a one-time code is sent to the associated e-mail address - stronger forms of protection could, and perhaps should, have come earlier. Thankfully this week Steam have announced the first limited test of the Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator, a function which is being rolled in to Android and iOS versions of the Steam Mobile App.

The Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator will soon be in limited beta as a feature of the iOS and Android mobile applications (which will be updated soon). The authenticator provides two-factor login to Steam. It also provides additional ways to protect and recover your account.

Beta participants will be selected from members of this group. Join now to express your interest in participating. Please share your thoughts and feedback in the discussions.

Please note that we are enabling only Android devices today. We will be testing on iOS devices when the iOS app is released (which should be soon).


In order to qualify for the test you'll need to be part of the MobileAuthBeta Steam Group, from which participants are being selected. Only iOS and Android apps are stated to be in the works, however it's likely that a Windows mobile app will also come through in the fullness of time. Note too that the current implementation doesn't make use of other widely available 2-Factor Authentication apps such as the Google Authenticator.

An FAQ is currently available here, and the discussion group can be found here.