Header capsule specification
| Requirement | What to deliver |
|---|---|
| Canvas | 920 × 430 px |
| Content | Game logo and artwork, plus any official subtitle |
| Text | Game name and any official subtitle only; no review scores, award names or symbols, discount copy, or text promoting another product |
| Composition | One readable logo and one dominant visual idea |
| Upload | Current Steamworks template pack; Valve's August 2024 notice states that old dimensions are no longer accepted |
A capsule is one of the fixed-size images Steam uses to represent your game across the store and library. The header capsule is proportionally taller than Steam's small capsule (roughly 2.1:1 against 2.7:1).
Do not stretch the same flat file into both ratios. Start from layered key art, set the 920 × 430 crop independently, and check that faces, weapons and other focal elements remain inside the frame.
Where Steam shows the header capsule
The header capsule sits at the top of your store page, so it works beside the short description, review state and purchase controls rather than as an isolated ad. Steam also uses it in Recommended For You, Big Picture browse views and Daily Deals.
That placement mix means the image has two jobs: confirm the identity of a game someone has already clicked and still read when shown as a recommendation.
Steam does not display the uploaded file at full size: on a desktop store page it serves a half-size 460 × 215 version generated from your 920 × 430 upload and draws it at roughly 375 × 175 px (checked on live store pages, September 2026).
Judge the crop in context. A beautiful full-resolution image can still fail if the logo competes with Steam's surrounding interface or the main subject disappears at that scale.
Design checklist
- Export at exactly 920 × 430 px, working from Valve's current store-asset template pack.
- Use the same key art and logo system as the rest of the campaign.
- Remove every line of text except the game title or logotype and any official subtitle.
- Check the logo against the background in both colour and greyscale; if it only separates in colour, treat the contrast as too weak.
- Show the image to someone who has not played the game and ask them to name the genre. If they cannot, the art is carrying mood only.
- Preview the asset at the size Steam actually draws it, around 375 × 175 px on a desktop store page, before upload.
- Save the layered source so future artwork overrides do not require rebuilding it.
For the system shared across every asset, use the guide to Steam capsule art, which carries the capsule sizes alongside the six dimensions each one is scored on.
Common header-capsule mistakes
- Reusing an old 460 × 215 export. That was the documented header size until Valve moved to 920 × 430 in August 2024, and the larger file is now the only accepted one.
- Treating the image like a billboard and adding feature copy or awards. Valve's stated consequence is that a non-compliant game may have limits to visibility within the Steam store and is ineligible for featuring in official Steam sales and events.
- Shrinking a detailed horizontal poster until neither the subject nor logo has priority.
- Changing the base asset for each promotion. Valve requires that any text on a capsule be uploaded as an Artwork Override with a one-month limit, and that the text be localised into at least the languages the game supports.
Sources: Valve's own Steamworks documentation on store graphical assets, graphical asset rules and artwork overrides, checked September 2026. Rendered sizes measured on live Steam store pages in September 2026.
