Just a little while ago, a Steam Beta Update was released, announcing a new, and interesting feature available for steam users. Steam Broadcasting will be a new way for you to stream video games for people’s entertainment, a la twitch, but in a more streamlined, controlled manner. Steam Broadcasting will give you the options to let any of your steam friends watch you broadcast, let friends watch your broadcast at your approval, or let just any old person watch, again, like twitch.
In order to get this update, you’ll need to be opted in to the Steam Beta, which can be turned on via Account Settings in Steam. You will automatically be enabled for broadcasting once you update and start a game. Watching someone else’s broadcast is as simple as right clicking their name on steam, and clicking “Watch Game” in the dropdown menu. Doing so will open up a small window with a chat box, and the broadcast. The idea of making a “private” stream, per se, is something I’ve always wanted to do, and this finally gives people a way to do it.
So far, the sound and video quality of the broadcasts look incredibly good, however, there is a delay of about 10-15 seconds, which may irritate some people. Considering this is in beta, there will be bugs, and in my short time trying the service, I’ve already encountered several bugs and issues.
The first problem I noticed was that when I watched one of my friends, the stream kept freezing after 40 seconds, multiple times in succession. Then, when I tried to broadcast to my friend, he couldn’t hear my game, or mic audio. I had checked to make sure my microphone was detected by steam, and it was, so I’m not sure what would’ve caused this.
Currently there appears to be no way to regulate chats, which could prove problematic if you want to broadcast publicly. There’s no way to kick or ban certain users, and already there are several streams filled with spammers. Hopefully over time, these issues will be addressed.
This feature, so far, is a very nice addition to steam, and seems to work incredibly well, aside from these minor problems. It’s not something I can fully recommend trying right now, because it isn’t quite fleshed out enough to be a fully enjoyable experience on both sides.
