Version: 5.x

Steam Authentication

The steam provider uses the Steamworks API to authenticate users automatically when the game launches from Steam. If you distribute your game through Steam, this provider allows for a painless onboarding experience: there's no username or password, and the player's Redwood account is tied to their Steam account.

How it works:

The RedwoodSteam plugin asks the Steam client for a Web API auth ticket (for the identity redwood)
The plugin logs in to the Director with the provider steam and the ticket
The Director verifies the ticket with Steam's AuthenticateUserTicket API using your publisher key, rejects VAC-banned and publisher-banned accounts, and logs the player in (creating their account on first login)

The player's Redwood username is their SteamID64, and their nickname is set to their Steam persona name (refreshed on every login).

Configuration

Variable	Description
`auth.allowed-providers`	Must include `steam`
`auth.steam.api-key`	The Steamworks Web API publisher authentication key. This can be used with the secrets system.
`auth.steam.app-id`	The Steamworks AppID for your game.

For example, in config/node/your-game/auth.yaml:

allowed-providers:
  - "steam"

steam:
  api-key: "secret|steam_api_key"
  app-id: 480

Setup

Create a Steamworks Web API publisher key (not a user key) following Steam's documentation
Update the above configuration
Enable the RedwoodSteam plugin by manually adding it to your .uproject file or via Edit > Plugins
Update your UE project's Config/DefaultEngine.ini to enable the Steam online subsystem, making sure to disable Steam networking:
```
[OnlineSubsystemSteam]
bEnabled=True
bUseSteamNetworking=false
SteamDevAppId=<your-app-id>
```
warning
There are no other configuration changes you need. SteamAuth is automatically handled by the RedwoodSteam plugin. DO NOT change the NetDriver as other guides on setting up Steam with Unreal suggest; Redwood game servers are reached by IP address with the normal IP net driver. You also don't need to set DefaultPlatformService=Steam.

note
Non-Shipping builds need SteamDevAppId: the Steam online subsystem writes a steam_appid.txt file from it when the game launches (and deletes it when the game closes), which lets you test without launching through the Steam client. Shipping builds don't do this and expect to be launched by Steam; following Valve's guidance, don't ship a steam_appid.txt with your game. Read more in the official Unreal documentation.
Update your project to use LoginWithSteam instead of the normal Login. It has the same FRedwoodAuthUpdate output as Login, so the rest of your login flow stays the same. Add the RedwoodSteam module to your .Build.cs file, include RedwoodClientGameSubsystem.h, RedwoodClientInterface.h, and RedwoodSteamClientInterface.h, and call:
```
URedwoodClientInterface* ClientInterface =
  GetGameInstance()->GetSubsystem<URedwoodClientGameSubsystem>()->GetClientInterface();

URedwoodSteamClientInterface::LoginWithSteam(
  ClientInterface,
  FRedwoodAuthUpdateDelegate::CreateWeakLambda(
    this, [this](const FRedwoodAuthUpdate& Update) {
      if (Update.Type == ERedwoodAuthUpdateType::Success) {
        // continue to the realm
      }
    }));
```
GetClientInterface() returns nullptr when running without the backend in PIE, so only call this when the backend is in use.

The Steam client must be running and logged in on the player's machine. Steam login doesn't use Remember Me (there's nothing to remember; the player is logged in again from Steam each launch).

Known issue (5.0.0)

If the plugin can't get a ticket from Steam (e.g. the Steam client isn't running, the player isn't logged in to Steam, or the Steam online subsystem isn't enabled), it only logs an error (LogRedwoodSteam) and the LoginWithSteam callback never fires. Add your own timeout to your login UI.

Configuration​

Setup​

Configuration

Setup