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Valve accidentally unveils its new Twitch-like Steam broadcasting

Valve accidentally unveils its new Twitch-like Steam broadcasting

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A live streaming video platform for Valve’s Dota 2 tournament

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Valve has accidentally revealed it’s working on improving its Twitch-like Steam broadcasting feature. Steam.tv briefly came online on Friday, revealing Valve’s new streaming site that appears to be dedicated to the company’s Dota 2 tournament. “We are working on updating Steam Broadcasting for the Main Event of The International, Dota 2’s annual tournament,” explains a Valve spokesperson to The Verge. “What people saw was a test feed that was inadvertently made public.”

Valve’s new Steam broadcasting comes just as The International, an annual Dota 2 e-sports tournament, is about to begin on August 20th. The International is the biggest e-sports tournament in the world, thanks to its massive prize fund of over $24 million. It makes it an ideal time for Valve to launch its own streaming service.

Steam’s new broadcasting feature looks rather basic from the brief steam.tv appearance, though. It’s limited to Dota 2, and signing in with a Steam account only gives you access to a friends list and group chats. CNET notes that you can watch a stream together with friends and chat, but you can’t currently sign in and start streaming your own Steam games for others to watch.

It’s not clear if Valve has ambitions beyond just streaming Dota 2 games, but there’s already plenty of competition to Twitch right now. Microsoft has its own Mixer streaming service, and Google has YouTube Gaming. Both services are big rivals to Twitch, and they allow gamers to stream their gaming, and watch others broadcast titles.

Update August 18th, 3:40AM ET: Article updated with comment from Valve.