Valve accidentally launches Steam.tv, A new Rival for Twitch?

Cnet reports that the giant of PC gaming Valve has likely unintentionally opened a new service called Steam.tv yesterday. The website was only reachable for a short time and in that time window, visitors of Steam.tv were able to watch a test feed of the Dota 2 International tournament.

Valve quickly pulled down the website after reports started breaking out on various news sites but users who were quick enough were able to get an early glimpse of what is highly likely a brand-new streaming service Valve is currently working on.

The original news started when Pavel Djundik, web developer and creator of the highly useful third-party Steam Database Steamdb.com posted a Tweet, only linking to steam.tv with a “Yes, it’s real” remark, as to disperse any confusion if this was a joke.

More proof that Steam.tv is indeed directly affiliated with Valve came after JaseC, a forum member on Resetera, noticed that the certification for the new website was directly connected to Steamcommunity.com, Valve’s own and separate community website focusing around their gaming user base.

What does this all mean? It’s likely that Steam is planning to vastly expand on their already existing streaming service. Steam users were already able to stream their gaming session via Steam Broadcast. A new feature added to Steam back in 2015. Even back then, many were assuming this to be the start of Steam attacking Twitch.tv, the undisputed juggernaut of game streaming. It didn’t come like that however, with Steam Broadcast staying extremely light in features. A very bare-bone streaming feature, only enabling basic broadcasting of gameplay sessions.

This is where Steam.tv really becomes interesting, as the little bit people were able to see of the service show a much more feature-packed streaming experience, similar to Twitch. As Cnet was able to take screenshots of Steam.tv’s interface, we are clearly seeing that Steam’s overhauled chatting system is fully integrated into it. Friends list and group chats were available and will obviously play a role in the new service. Not unlike Twitch whose chatting and social aspects are crucial to the service’s success.

It’s not clear when Steam.tv will launch official, however, Valve gave Cnet an official statement regards the matter:

“We are working on updating Steam Broadcasting for the Main Event of The International, Dota 2’s annual tournament. What people saw was a test feed that was inadvertently made public” – Valve via Cnet

As The Internationals, Dota 2’s biggest tournament is currently underway, we wouldn’t be surprised at all if Valve decided to use the momentum of the tournament for an imminent surprise launch.

We will be following Steam.tv closely and report on any news.