Steam Adds Broadcast Option (Beta)

Hi!

Steam has just introduced Steam Broadcasting Beta  . It is different than Twitch streaming as I understood from the explanation given by Steam. To watch any of friends on Steam, you just need to go to their Steam profile and click Watch Game   button and your friend automatically starts live streaming.

What if you want to stream your game?  

It seems there is not any start streaming button at all. At the very first time a friend of your's requests to watch your gameplay, you will be presented with preferences on who could watch your stream. You can configure your streams as

• anyone can watch
• only friends can watch
• only friends can request to watch
• only friends that you invite to watch can watch.

After this configuration is complete, every time you start playing a game on your Steam library and someone clicks Watch Game   button, you start broadcasting. You can stop your broadcast by simply exiting the game or by using the Stop option on Broadcast Panel at Steam Overlay.

Unlike Twitch, there is no camera support in Steam Broadcast. Although you can still use your microphone or chat panel to chat with your audience. You can't save your stream to be watched later either.

You can currently watch streams by the Steam users who broadcasts their games publicly here.

How to Enable Steam Broadcasting?  

You should both the streamer and his/her friends need to opt in to Steam Client Beta.

Which platforms are supported?  

Only Windows 7 and Windows 8 are supported at the moment. 

OSX, Linux and Windows Vista are planned to be supported in the future.