Plan on needing a bit of extra time before playing your latest Steam games – there’s a new client in town that will automatically be downloading and changing a few things. It’s not just about making that frame rate counter a real thing – there are some other cool additions to the service.
The biggest change is the introduction of Steam Broadcasting. Unlike twitch that requires extra logins to stream, you can now stream directly from Steam. You can choose privacy settings for your St(r)eam, but it sounds like the Dota options to watch a game are being applied here, making it quick and easy to spectate a wide variety of games.
While I think that’s the biggest and coolest addition, here’s the complete list of changes.
General
- Added Steam Broadcasting
- Added in-game FPS counter to Steam Overlay
- When Steam has internally scheduled a game update to be queued sometime in the future, the UI will now display a note to the user indicating that time
- Fixed a crash preventing 64-bit Steamworks games from launching on older AMD processors
- Fixed starting Steam if instance is already running in other local Windows user session
- Fixed restoring game specific hardware mouse cursors when exiting the in-game overlay
- Fixed errors in web views not localizing properly
- Fixed occasional crash when trying to validate your email address
- Fixed rendering the Steam Overlay in some D3D8 games.
- Updated Windows Compatibility warnings
- Improved synchronization and smoothness of video playback
- Reduced CPU usage when drawing animated images or videos
- Reduced CPU usage when interacting with the main Steam client window
Big Picture
- Fixed to ask the user if they’d like to launch immediately or begin updating the game if an update is available but the game has been played recently
- When running in 720p mode scale embedded web views so they are readable
- Fixed EULA display occasionally failing to display
- Revised navigation on profile menu
- Fixed crash when entering a screenshot description
- Fixed displaying screenshots for games added by shortcut
In-Home Streaming
- Fixed severe frame drop in OpenGL games that occasionally occurred on some hardware
- Reduced impact on game frame rate in D3D9c games when not using hardware acceleration
Linux
- Fixed a rare bug where Steam could delete user files when failing to start
SteamOS
- Fixed some combo boxes in steam client settings accepting text input when selection must be made from dropdown
Will you be broadcasting all your gameplay to your friends? I think this could be a cool feature, especially if you’re curious about games that your friends always rave about – watch them play it and see if you’d like. Alternatively, if they moan about a game not being fun, you can watch them play and tell them how they’re doing it wrong.
Last Updated: January 20, 2015
ToshZA
January 20, 2015 at 11:34
I’m keen to try this out XD
Admiral Chief
January 20, 2015 at 11:36
Maybe I should stream some FTL games…
Hammersteyn
January 20, 2015 at 11:44
Sure, I have 3 minutes
Admiral Chief
January 20, 2015 at 11:46
Yes, if you are a noob, you will die in 3 minutes
Hammersteyn
January 20, 2015 at 11:46
XD
Captain JJ Saga
January 20, 2015 at 11:49
This is Lazygamer, not COD, take your noob insults somewhere else 😉
Admiral Chief
January 20, 2015 at 11:50
Says Captain Eyeliner, who has not even finished FTL once…
Captain JJ Saga
January 20, 2015 at 11:51
Playing Infinite Space mod. Besides, I suck at games, it’s not a secret. And FTL is hard.
Admiral Chief
January 20, 2015 at 11:54
Aye, it is, but it is damn rewarding!
(I know why you play THAT mod…it is to skip the boss battle!)
Captain JJ Saga
January 20, 2015 at 11:59
It’s to make the game a bit longer actually. 🙂 Though I still die just as easily.
Captain JJ Saga
January 20, 2015 at 11:50
I’m afraid it’ll embarrass me when I see how bad I am compared to other people.
Captain JJ Saga
January 20, 2015 at 11:49
Still no fix for playing games online with people who have their EA games on Origin. There are always problems with that.
Viking Of Science
January 20, 2015 at 11:50
That’s EA’s fault, though…
Marcus
January 20, 2015 at 11:54
Everything is EA’s fault! Can’t even release the kraken without a patch!
Raptor Rants A Lot
January 20, 2015 at 11:56
or without an online connection
Captain JJ Saga
January 20, 2015 at 12:00
Yes it is. There was an accident on the way to work yesterday. Also EA’s fault. I blame them. 😀
Kromas Votes LAG WCMovie Event
January 20, 2015 at 12:00
Naked streaming incoming!
Admiral Chief
January 20, 2015 at 12:06
[mental note]
I need to start filtering my Steam friend list…
Captain JJ Saga
January 20, 2015 at 12:07
You can’t remove me if I’ve already removed you! Mwahahaha! ;P
Admiral Chief
January 20, 2015 at 12:10
Now WHERE did I say “remove”?
Dutch Matrix
January 20, 2015 at 12:12
Just there. In aanhalingstekens nogals…
Captain JJ Saga
January 20, 2015 at 12:13
LOL
Kromas Votes LAG WCMovie Event
January 20, 2015 at 12:07
Ahhh don’t … you will like what you see … or possibly it will blind you. Either way it will be a memorable experience. 😛
Admiral Chief
January 20, 2015 at 12:10
o_O
Captain JJ Saga
January 20, 2015 at 12:14
All my “memorable experiences” are regrettably so.
Kromas Votes LAG WCMovie Event
January 20, 2015 at 12:33
I weep (read laugh) for (read at) you. 😛
Uberutang
January 20, 2015 at 12:08
Need to try this again. Did not work on our slow upload lines last time we tried.
hairyknees
January 20, 2015 at 12:49
Well… if out Internet actually supported this -_-
Ottokie
January 20, 2015 at 13:03
I would love to stream, but around here mobile quality stream is the only possibility without breaking the bank…and fortnox.
Uberutang
January 20, 2015 at 13:53
Ok tested at work. 3000kbps up works for 1080p….
RickGamer90
January 20, 2015 at 15:04
Hey! if you want u can find cheaper Steam and Origin games on g2a 🙂 http://www.g2astore.tk