Count this as news I didn’t see coming.

This past Tuesday, Valve announced a new feature coming to their very popular platform Steam. Currently known as “Steam Broadcasting“, this feature (currently in beta) will allow any game in your library to stream automatically when you start playing, making it available for other people to watch. Only the game is streamed so when you stop playing, the stream ends. What’s nice is that this is all handled through Steam, so you won’t need any third party software running in the background, and you don’t need to worry about streaming things like your desktop either as only the game is shown to people who are watching.

The downside? For right now, streams cannot be saved or archived so there’s no way to move that gameplay to a third party like YouTube for example unless you’re using a third party tool in the background. It’s disappointing, but I can’t imagine that this is something that will go too long without a resolution. It’s a nice first step for Valve who may be testing the waters for future integration.

So how can you get in on this? You’ll first need to opt into the beta which is available through your settings -> preferences-> account. You’ll also be able to set your privacy settings for streaming from invite only, friends only to completely open. For now, Steam Broadcasting is not the new Twitch or replacing it. It’s not there yet, but it’s definitely an interesting alternative option.