Valve appears to have committed a faux pas last night when they inadvertently made their upcoming feature, Steam.tv, available to the public. The accident occurred while Steam was showing updates during The International, the competitive pro gaming circuit for their MOBA video game, Dota 2. At some point last night, link to Steam.tv was being thrown all over twitter and other various social media sites. At the time, the link only went to a blank page or it said “Welcome to steam.tv.”
However, later that night the link went live and people were able to access Steam.tv, as it broadcasted footage from The International. It didn’t last long though, as the feed was cut off soon after. At this time the link is once again a blank page. Apparently, Valve made the domain live so it could be tested during The International and made it public by accident. Valve spoke to TheVerge.com in regards to this mistake in which they stated: “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.”
Whether is was inadvertent or not, it definitely got some attention. From the looks of it, Steam.tv only supports Dota 2, but Valve could be aiming for a much higher and ambitious undertaking. This could lead to more competition with Twitch, who is the undisputed king of video game streaming, competitive and non-competitive. In addition, YouTube has their gaming streams, and Microsoft has been gaining some momentum with their Mixer service. According to CNET.com, it looks like its an advanced version of the Steam Broadcasting Page, with the ability to bring your Steam Chat friends into the mix. The interface also utilizes many facets that Steam users are accustomed to, and it appears that you will be able to have multiple tabs up as well. One nifty feature is the built in voice chat that’s supported by Google Chrome. Unfortunately, it does not seem to use that function with Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Edge.
The internet is still abuzz over the misstep by Valve. The International continues on August 20, so Valve may conduct more tests with Steam.tv before it ends. So keep an eye on that link just in case they want to give us another glimpse at their new gaming feature.