SteamSETUP

How to broadcast to your Steam store page with OBS

23 Oct 2026 · 7 min read

OBS Studio is free, and Valve's own setup guide uses it as the example, so it is the obvious first way to put a live broadcast on your Steam store page. It works well once a few defaults are changed. Here are the exact settings, how to test before you go public, and an honest look at when OBS is the right tool and when it is not. Checked against the Steamworks docs and the OBS source on 23 Oct 2026.

AT A GLANCE

▪Stream tab: Service Custom..., Server and Stream Key from steamcommunity.com/broadcast/upload.

▪Keyframe Interval: 2 seconds. OBS defaults to 0 (auto); Valve says without 2 seconds the stream fails to start.

▪Rate control CBR, about 6,000 Kbps (Steam allows up to 7,000), High profile, 1920x1080 at 30 or 60 fps.

▪Audio: 128 kbps. The OBS default of 160 kbps is above Steam's AAC-LC limit.

▪Test on Friends Only, then switch to Public: only public streams appear on the store page.

Sources: Setting up a broadcast, Livestreaming a game demo. Checked 23 Oct 2026.

Before you open OBS

Steam checks the account, not the software. The Steam account that streams must be non-limited (at least $5 USD spent on Steam), own the game, and have the Broadcast Live permission in Steamworks or belong to the Store Broadcast Beta group. Adult-Only games cannot broadcast. Then, signed in as that account, open steamcommunity.com/broadcast/upload, choose Create RTMP Token, set the base game's App ID and leave visibility on Friends Only for now. Getting your Steam stream key has every step.

The OBS settings for Steam

Open Settings in OBS and work through the tabs. Steam's ingest is stricter than Twitch or YouTube, so the defaults that work there do not all work here.

OBS setting	Where	Set it to	OBS default
Service	Stream	Custom...	a preset service
Server / Stream Key	Stream	The RTMP URL and token from steamcommunity.com/broadcast/upload	empty
Output Mode	Output	Advanced	Simple
Rate Control	Output, Streaming	CBR	CBR
Bitrate	Output, Streaming	6000 Kbps (Steam allows up to 7,000)	varies
Keyframe Interval	Output, Streaming	2 s	0 (auto)
Profile	Output, Streaming	high	none
Audio Bitrate, Track 1	Output, Audio	128	160
Base and Output Resolution	Video	1920x1080 (16:9)	your screen
Common FPS Values	Video	30 (or 60)	30

▪Stream tab: choose Custom..., paste the RTMP URL into Server and the token into Stream Key. Valve's guide uses Custom for Steam.

▪Keyframe Interval is the one that matters most. OBS leaves it at 0, which means automatic. Valve's guide is blunt: without a 2-second keyframe interval "your stream will fail to start".

▪Audio bitrate: OBS defaults to 160 kbps per track, and Steam's limit is 128 kbps AAC-LC. Set Track 1 to 128 under Output, Audio.

▪Encoder: x264 (CPU) and the hardware encoders (NVIDIA NVENC, Intel Quick Sync, AMD) all work. Choose the High profile. With x264 you can pin the level by typing level=4.1 into x264 Options.

▪Bitrate: 6,000 Kbps CBR leaves headroom under Steam's 7,000 kbps ceiling. At that ceiling, 30 fps gives each frame twice the bits of 60 fps, which usually looks better for a trailer or gameplay loop.

The full spec, field by field, is in Steam broadcast video specs.

What to send: a game, or a video on loop

▪Live gameplay: add a Game Capture source and set its mode to Capture specific window, then pick your game. This is the example in Valve's demo guide.

▪A trailer or gameplay reel: add a Media Source, pick the file and tick Loop. It is off by default, so without it the broadcast shows a frozen last frame once the video ends.

▪Demo footage: do not play the demo on the Steam account you broadcast from. Valve says the broadcast system prefers the game that account is playing over the App ID you set, so the stream lands on the demo instead of your store page. Broadcasting your demo covers the rest.

Test it before it goes public

1.With visibility still on Friends Only, press Start Streaming in OBS.

2.Back on steamcommunity.com/broadcast/upload, open Your Broadcast URL. You should see your stream there.

3.Switch visibility to Public. Only public streams appear on the store page.

4.Give it up to 5 minutes, then open the store page from a logged-out or private browser window. Your own account also sees Friends Only streams, so it is not a fair test.

Stream starts, then keeps dropping? Check your broadcast history on the upload page. If it says "Make sure your upload key-frame interval is set to 2 seconds and use constant bitrate (CBR)", the keyframe interval is still on auto. If the store page never shows the stream at all, check the App ID: Valve says to enter it, regenerate the RTMP token, and paste the new token into OBS.

Keeping OBS on air

OBS reconnects on its own: Automatically Reconnect is on by default, trying every 2 seconds for up to 25 attempts (Settings, Advanced). That covers a network blip. It does not cover the computer. For the store page to stay live, the PC has to stay powered, awake and online, so turn off sleep, and keep Windows updates from restarting it in the middle of a festival. Steam will not resend anything for you: when OBS stops, the page goes dark.

When OBS is the right tool

▪A real live stream. A developer on camera, a dev diary, a Q&A with chat, a launch-day session. This is what OBS is built for, and nothing hosted replaces a person talking to viewers.

▪Live gameplay that changes, such as a playthrough or a multiplayer session.

▪Short, scheduled broadcasts. An hour or an evening during an event, while someone is at the PC anyway.

▪You already run OBS for Twitch or YouTube. Valve allows the same content on several platforms at once.

When it is not

The common Steam case is different: the same trailer or gameplay reel, unattended, for days or weeks, through a Coming Soon period or Next Fest. OBS can do it with a Media Source on loop, but it re-encodes that file live the whole time and needs the PC running around the clock. Two lighter options:

▪ffmpeg on a small server. Encode the file to Steam's spec once, then send it without re-encoding. The Steam RTMP streaming guide has the commands and a restart loop.

▪A hosted broadcast. Loopcast streams your video from our servers, already encoded to the spec, and restarts it if it drops, so no PC of yours stays on. Looping a video on Steam without OBS compares the two.

Sources: Setting up a broadcast, Livestreaming a game demo, Steam broadcast FAQ, OBS Studio source (defaults). Checked 23 Oct 2026. Valve updates these pages; the Steamworks docs always win.

Keep going

SetupFinding your Steam stream keyGenerate the RTMP token and make it public.VideoSteam broadcast video specsResolution, bitrate, keyframes and audio.DevelopersSteam RTMP streaming guideSpec, token and a working ffmpeg command.CompareSteam without OBSPrerecorded video, no PC left on.

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