Your library moved. Did your progress?

Moving a game is easier to reason about when you separate four things. A supported answer to one does not answer the others.

Licence: can I launch this version?

The entitlement from a purchase, subscription, or other permitted access route. Record the store, account, edition, and destination device.

Save: can I continue my progress?

Your campaign, character, or settings data. A cloud save is storage and synchronisation; cross-progression is the game's support for using progress across its specified platforms.

Cross-play: can we play together?

Multiplayer compatibility between the platforms a game supports. It does not by itself transfer a purchase or campaign.

Account link: which identity is connected?

A relationship between a store/platform account and another account. The feature it enables depends on the game; the link alone proves no transfer.

Valve lets developers choose what Steam Cloud stores. A Cloud logo is not proof that every save or setting transfers between operating systems. Check the game's documentation for the specific Windows-to-SteamOS route. Valve's Steam Cloud guidance (official source, opens in a new tab).

1. On the original device, save, quit the game, and let Steam finish synchronising.
2. Check the per-game Cloud setting in Library → Properties → General, and resolve a sync error before switching.
3. On the destination, use the intended Steam account and confirm cloud status before launching.
4. If a conflict appears, identify the desired progress before choosing a file. Do not assume the newer timestamp is automatically the correct campaign.

For a game without suitable cloud support, ask its developer about supported save locations and transfer steps. Keep a backup before a manual change; Steam Support says it cannot recover lost saves. Synchronisation is not a substitute for a backup.

Xbox Play Anywhere applies to participating digital games bought through the Xbox or Windows store, or an eligible code. Microsoft's programme carries progress between supported Xbox consoles, Windows PCs, and Windows gaming handhelds under the same account. Look for the game's current Play Anywhere badge; a Steam purchase or a SteamOS handheld is not automatically that route. Check Xbox Play Anywhere (official source, opens in a new tab).

Microsoft limits simultaneous sign-in to the same participating game. Confirm the PC's requirements and entitlement before installing. Subscription access and purchase entitlements are separate questions: verify the destination, plan, catalogue, and regional conditions in the current digital-goods rules (official source, opens in a new tab).

Sony's PC support page describes sign-in and linking that can vary by title, including optional benefits and features that require an account. It does not establish universal PC-to-console save transfer. Read PlayStation's PC linking instructions (official source, opens in a new tab).

Before linking any publisher account, open that game's official cross-progression guidance. Identify the account holding your existing progress, supported platform pairs, and any merging, unlinking, or relinking restrictions. If those details are absent, treat transfer as unconfirmed. Do not create a second campaign or unlink an existing account just to experiment.

Check the publisher's support for your country: storefront editions, service availability, and account rules can differ. This guide is a way to check a route, not a country-wide entitlement promise.

Write a short route note before installing or purchasing again. It makes an unsupported assumption visible before it costs progress or money.

• Source: device, store, edition, and account holding the licence and save.
• Destination: device, operating system, store, and intended account.
• Evidence: an official page supporting this exact licence and save route; record its date.
• Progress: last saved checkpoint, successful sync status, and supported backup method.
• Limits: subscription expiry, online requirements, regional rules, DLC, and account-link restrictions.

If the licence works but progress does not arrive, pause. Check whether the save is local, pending synchronisation, or unsupported across that platform pair. Give official support the game, versions, devices, store, and error text; keep credentials private.