Today, Steam took a step into the broadcasting world by introducing its own platform for streaming.
We have witnessed a variety of the stream platforms where, arguably, the leading role was taken by Twitch. Games that can be played through Steam are some of the most popular ones in the streaming world and therefore Valve, the company behind Steam, decided to offer their own services at the broadcasting field.
Steam Broadcasting is still in beta but it's already possible to try it out now. The only requirement would be to opt into Steam Client Beta, which can be done through the Steam client main menu (select Settings > Account and change your "Beta Participation" to "Steam Beta Update").
Steam Broadcasting allows you to watch your friends while they are playing live, or allowing them to watch you playing any game live. It's important to mention that you do not need to own a game or to pay any fees in order to watch your friends play it.
Steam has made more or less the same restrictions as any other broadcasting site:
- Porn, inappropriate or offensive content, warez or leaked content or anything else not safe for work
- Discussions of piracy, cheating, hacking, game exploits
- Threats of violence or harassment, even as a joke
- Copyrighted material
- Soliciting, begging, auctioning, raffling, selling, advertising, referrals
- Racism or discrimination and abusive language
The privacy settings are rather simple to toggle between. The first time someone requests to watch your game, you will see a small window with the option to choose who can access along with some details:
Head over to Steam's official site to check all the features of Steam Broadcasting.
