Steam.tv launches – first by accident, then officially

Steam Broadcasting is no more – well, that’s an exaggeration, but it’s certainly going to be getting a massive upgrade in the form of Valve’s new platform for all things streaming: Steam.tv.

It was revealed late last week the company had registered the eponymous domain, and the rumour mill set in motion that this would be the competing service to Amazon’s Twitch – only to be sharply silenced as Valve itself accidentally set Steam.tv live, as detailed over on CNET.

The service went dark again, with Valve admitting the mistake, only to be switched back on – officially – yesterday (August 20). For the time being the service will focus on broadcasting coverage of the International, the world’s most valuable esports tournament centring on DOTA 2.

Steam.tv will be adding more games and functionality in coming weeks, months and years, with the plan on supporting all games – but we’ll likely have to wait for the tournament to be over before then.

Features added to the Steam Broadcasting upgrade – specifically around DOTA 2 for now – include match markers for important events (drafting, match starts, first blood etc) and a ‘live DVR’ feature that allows viewers to rewind from the moment they enter a stream, so late arrivals don’t have to miss out on the early action.

There’s also Steam Chat integration with native voice chat support and custom/private chat channels available, with many other elements sure to be revealed in time. All of these features are, for the time being, custom additions for DOTA 2, but their suitability for other games means a wider rollout is likely when the service is updated across all games.