Last month Valve unveiled its move into video game streaming. It went after Twitch with a service of its own called Steam Broadcasting. Friends can use it to watch their friends play games, the public option allows anyone to tap into the stream, which certainly pits it against Twitch. Last month this service was launched in beta but today Steam Broadcasting has finally been opened up for all.
Steam Broadcasting lets users watch people play games using the Steam client. Streams can also be accessed using web browsers like Safari and Chrome.
The rising popularity of e-sports is just one of the reasons why game broadcasting services are rapidly growing. Twitch now plays host to more than a million broadcasters every month. Its not surprising why this company was being courted by big names in the industry until Amazon finally swooped in and picked it up.
The latest Steam Client update opens up Steam Broadcasting for all. It also brings several updates which include an in-game FPS counter to Steam Overlay, improved synchronization and smoothness of video playback as well as fixes for various errors and bugs.
Even though Valve is primarily pitching it as a service that lets you “watch friends play, with the click of a button,” there’s no denying the fact that it essentially does what Twitch is already doing on PCs, mobile devices and gaming consoles. The only question is whether or not it will be able to carve out a niche for itself.
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