Valve started to use the new voice, text and friend list features on the Steam client, the popular digital gaming platform that has become the benchmark in its industry.
Valve’s intention with these changes is to make the conversation features of Steam similar to those of the popular Discord application, all with the intention of competing directly with the latter, and these are some of the moves that began in June in the beta channel. Now it seems that the new possibilities will be available to all users of the platform.
In detail, the changes to the Steam client went right down to the design and versatility of the chat. Users can now share GIF images and rich social media links and videos via Steam Chat, sort friends into favorites, group them by game or party, and have more comprehensive group conversations similar to Discord’s servers. Voice chat now includes features such as channels and invitation links.
Adding advanced features to steam conversations is not something that makes Valve random, as Discord has become a great reference when it comes to conversations between players. Basically, it is an attempt to prevent the emergence of a competitor that is growing remarkably. In case of a jump to the video game distribution, Valve could be in a difficult position there.