What Is Steam Chat Used For?
Steam Chat modernizes Steam’s communication tools and features. While Steam is primarily a marketplace for buying video games and organizing your video game library, it also allows you to connect and play games with friends. Steam Chat is a free alternative to paid voice chat services like TeamSpeak, Mumble, and Ventrillo. These services provide voice over internet protocol (VoIP) communication for gamers, so they can coordinate when they’re in a game and keep in touch when they aren’t playing. Steam Chat is also an alternative to Discord, which is a free voice and text chat service with many of Steam Chat’s features. Steam Chat has two main components: text chat between individuals and groups and voice chat between individuals and groups. Users can message each other individually and create Group Chats, which act like Discord servers. Group Chats can have multiple text channels to organize conversations about different topics. Group chats can also have multiple voice channels so that group members can focus on different games or other subjects.
How to Get Started With Steam Chat
To use Steam Chat, download the Steam client or log in through the Steam Community website to use the web-based client. You’ll also need a free Steam account and some friends to chat with. Here’s how to get started with Steam Chat:
Access Chat After Installing Steam
It’s easy to start chatting after installing the Steam version for your operating system.
Use the Steam Web Client
Launching Steam Chat is even easier from Steam on the web.
How Steam Group Chats Work
Group Chats on Steam look like individual chats. However, you can have multiple people in one, and they persist even when everyone is offline. When you sign back in, you’re still in the group, so these groups are a good way for gaming clans, guilds, fireteams, and communities to stay in contact. Create a group chat at any time by inviting additional friends into an individual chat. Alternatively, select the plus sign in the Group Chats section of your friends’ list. Name your group chat and add an avatar via Settings (gear icon). Group Chats have the same basic functionality as regular chats but with more structure. Each group can have multiple text channels set up, so you can have specific places for both structured discussions and free-for-all general chat.
