Valve stares down Twitch with the launch of Steam Broadcasting

By Will Fulton December 2, 2014

valve stares twitch launch steam broadcasting — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Valve has joined the game streaming scene with the announcement of Steam Broadcasting. This new feature, just launched in beta, allows Steam users to watch other people playing games live without leaving Valve’s storefront/launcher client.

Steam users already get a pop-up notification whenever someone from their friend list starts playing a game. Now they also have the option to jump right in to observing and commenting with the click of a button. The user of course has control over their privacy settings for a stream, ranging from invitation-only to public. Public play is accessible through the given game’s hub page.

Streams can be watched both from the Steam client and in a Chrome or Safari browser. Currently, the service only enables live streaming, with no way to archive and share feeds later.

Twitch, the current leader in game streaming (recently acquired by Amazon), has already responded to the new competition, expressing satisfaction that the field is growing.

VP of Marketing Matthew DiPietro explained in a statement: “We are huge fans of Steam and work with Valve regularly on various events and product integrations. While Steam’s broadcasting solution and the Twitch platform are very different things with vastly different feature sets, it’s really validating to see a company like Valve embrace streaming in this way. Live video is the future of social connectivity for gamers and this is another proof point. We wish them the best of luck.”

Any Steam user can give the new feature a try now. Go to Settings > Account and set “Beta Participation” to “Steam Beta Update” to enable it.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

PC Gaming

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

Computing

If I’m not supposed to smell the Steam Deck vents, why do they smell so good?

Someone smelling the fumes from the Steam Deck.

Candles? No. Potpourri? Not for me. Essential oils? They aren't that essential. The only thing that can soothe my olfaction is the sweet smell of the Steam Deck vents. It's the smell of burning plastic, the sweet and honey-like aroma of ozone, and the sense of dead brain cells.

But now, here's Valve saying I shouldn't smell my Steam Deck vents. Steam support is saying to "please refrain from this behavior for the safety of your health." That's even after Steam support told Reddit user Metapod100 that it "understands that it may be a meme." I guess you shouldn't smell your Steam Deck vents, at least if you want to follow Valve's official guidance.

Gaming

The Day Before studio shutting down just four days after disastrous launch

A player walks through an abandoned city in The Day Before.

Fntastic, the developer behind the controversial and much-derided postapocalyptic shooter The Day Before, announced it is shutting down just four days after the game's launch.

"Today, we announce the closure of Fntastic Studio. Unfortunately, The Day Before has failed financially, and we lack the funds to continue. All income received is being used to pay off debts to our partners," a message posted to Fntastic's X account and website states. "We invested all our efforts, resources, and man-hours into the development of The Day Before, which was our first huge game. We really wanted to release new patches to reveal the full potential of the game, but unfortunately, we don't have the funding to continue to work."

Gaming

After using the Legion Go, I’m finally thankful for my Steam Deck

The Steam Deck OLED on a pink background.

Even since I got my Steam Deck, I’ve spent too much time looking for greener pastures. I wished I could ditch Linux in favor of a more familiar Windows machine. Its enormous form factor left me wanting something a little more portable. Most of all, I yearned for a better display that would match my Nintendo Switch OLED. With each new portable PC that was released, I was sure I’d leave my Steam Deck behind the first chance I got.

I was especially ready to pack it up when I got my Lenovo Legion Go. On paper, it solved almost every problem I had with Valve’s handheld and more. It was much bigger, but with a wildly improved screen; its Switch-like design and Windows integration felt like a perfect fit for what I needed. That’s not to mention that it came with a performance boost too that would theoretically let me play more high-end games that the Steam Deck couldn’t run well.