diff --git a/media-converter/Cargo.lock b/media-converter/Cargo.lock
index 6ef6281a..45939ca7 100644
--- a/media-converter/Cargo.lock
+++ b/media-converter/Cargo.lock
@@ -89,6 +89,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "filetime"
+version = "0.2.18"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4b9663d381d07ae25dc88dbdf27df458faa83a9b25336bcac83d5e452b5fc9d3"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "libc",
+ "redox_syscall",
+ "windows-sys",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "futures-channel"
 version = "0.3.24"
@@ -525,6 +537,7 @@ version = "7.0.0"
 dependencies = [
  "array-init",
  "crc32fast",
+ "filetime",
  "glib",
  "gst-plugin-version-helper",
  "gstreamer",
@@ -543,6 +556,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "redox_syscall"
+version = "0.2.16"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "fb5a58c1855b4b6819d59012155603f0b22ad30cad752600aadfcb695265519a"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "serde"
 version = "1.0.145"
@@ -710,3 +732,60 @@ name = "winapi-x86_64-pc-windows-gnu"
 version = "0.4.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "712e227841d057c1ee1cd2fb22fa7e5a5461ae8e48fa2ca79ec42cfc1931183f"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "windows-sys"
+version = "0.42.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5a3e1820f08b8513f676f7ab6c1f99ff312fb97b553d30ff4dd86f9f15728aa7"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows_aarch64_gnullvm",
+ "windows_aarch64_msvc",
+ "windows_i686_gnu",
+ "windows_i686_msvc",
+ "windows_x86_64_gnu",
+ "windows_x86_64_gnullvm",
+ "windows_x86_64_msvc",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "windows_aarch64_gnullvm"
+version = "0.42.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "41d2aa71f6f0cbe00ae5167d90ef3cfe66527d6f613ca78ac8024c3ccab9a19e"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "windows_aarch64_msvc"
+version = "0.42.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "dd0f252f5a35cac83d6311b2e795981f5ee6e67eb1f9a7f64eb4500fbc4dcdb4"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "windows_i686_gnu"
+version = "0.42.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "fbeae19f6716841636c28d695375df17562ca208b2b7d0dc47635a50ae6c5de7"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "windows_i686_msvc"
+version = "0.42.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "84c12f65daa39dd2babe6e442988fc329d6243fdce47d7d2d155b8d874862246"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "windows_x86_64_gnu"
+version = "0.42.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bf7b1b21b5362cbc318f686150e5bcea75ecedc74dd157d874d754a2ca44b0ed"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "windows_x86_64_gnullvm"
+version = "0.42.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "09d525d2ba30eeb3297665bd434a54297e4170c7f1a44cad4ef58095b4cd2028"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "windows_x86_64_msvc"
+version = "0.42.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f40009d85759725a34da6d89a94e63d7bdc50a862acf0dbc7c8e488f1edcb6f5"
diff --git a/media-converter/Cargo.toml b/media-converter/Cargo.toml
index ca681355..43c36d95 100644
--- a/media-converter/Cargo.toml
+++ b/media-converter/Cargo.toml
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ gstreamer-audio = "0.19.0"
 once_cell = "1.9"
 crc32fast = "1.3"
 array-init = "2.0"
+filetime = "0.2"
 
 [lib]
 name = "protonmediaconverter"
diff --git a/media-converter/src/audioconv/imp.rs b/media-converter/src/audioconv/imp.rs
index 4103f10b..b7289a32 100644
--- a/media-converter/src/audioconv/imp.rs
+++ b/media-converter/src/audioconv/imp.rs
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@
 use crate::format_hash;
 use crate::HASH_SEED;
 use crate::discarding_disabled;
+use crate::steam_compat_shader_path;
+use crate::touch_file;
 
 use gst::glib;
 use gst::prelude::*;
@@ -633,6 +635,14 @@ impl AudioConvState {
 
         let buf = Box::new(*include_bytes!("../../blank.ptna"));
 
+        match steam_compat_shader_path() {
+            None => gst::log!(CAT, "env STEAM_COMPAT_SHADER_PATH not set"),
+            Some(mut path) => {
+                path.push("placeholder-audio-used");
+                if let Err(e) = touch_file(path) { gst::log!(CAT, "Failed to touch placeholder-audio-used file: {:?}", e) }
+            },
+        };
+
         Ok(buf)
     }
 }
diff --git a/media-converter/src/lib.rs b/media-converter/src/lib.rs
index 59d48160..ce36d414 100644
--- a/media-converter/src/lib.rs
+++ b/media-converter/src/lib.rs
@@ -35,8 +35,14 @@ extern crate gstreamer_video as gst_video;
 extern crate gstreamer_audio as gst_audio;
 extern crate once_cell;
 
+use std::fs::File;
 use std::io;
 use std::io::Read;
+use std::path::Path;
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+use filetime::FileTime;
+use filetime::set_file_handle_times;
 
 #[cfg(target_arch = "x86")]
 mod murmur3_x86_128;
@@ -76,6 +82,24 @@ where
     a
 }
 
+fn touch_file<P>(p: P) -> io::Result<()>
+where
+    P: AsRef<Path> + std::fmt::Debug
+{
+    let f = File::create(p)?;
+    let now = FileTime::now();
+    set_file_handle_times(&f, Some(now), Some(now))?;
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+fn steam_compat_shader_path() -> Option<PathBuf>
+{
+    match std::env::var("STEAM_COMPAT_SHADER_PATH") {
+        Err(_) => None,
+        Ok(c) => Some(Path::new(&c).to_path_buf()),
+    }
+}
+
 /* rust has a hard time with large heap allocations. below macro works around that.
  *
  * by @simias from https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/53827 */
diff --git a/media-converter/src/videoconv/imp.rs b/media-converter/src/videoconv/imp.rs
index 2a170d37..a40f816d 100644
--- a/media-converter/src/videoconv/imp.rs
+++ b/media-converter/src/videoconv/imp.rs
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ use crate::box_array;
 use crate::copy_into_array;
 use crate::BufferedReader;
 use crate::discarding_disabled;
+use crate::steam_compat_shader_path;
+use crate::touch_file;
 
 use gst::glib;
 use gst::prelude::*;
@@ -346,6 +348,14 @@ impl VideoConvState {
         self.transcode_hash = None;
         self.our_duration = Some(include_bytes!("../../blank.mkv").len() as u64);
 
+        match steam_compat_shader_path() {
+            None => gst::log!(CAT, "env STEAM_COMPAT_SHADER_PATH not set"),
+            Some(mut path) => {
+                path.push("placeholder-video-used");
+                if let Err(e) = touch_file(path) { gst::log!(CAT, "Failed to touch placeholder-video-used file: {:?}", e) }
+            },
+        };
+
         false
     }