Press Info

RoboStreamer is a cloud-based streaming service specifically designed for broadcasting videos as Steam Broadcasts. It allows game developers, publishers, and studios to upload their videos and stream them in an endless loop as Steam Broadcasts.

Why do you need this?

Steam Broadcasts increase the visibility and reach of games on the Steam platform, especially during Steam events such as Next Fest or sales promotions. This leads to more wishlists and sales.

Many developers do not have the time to stream for hours (or even days) and would prefer to send a pre-recorded video. In the past, the only options were expensive, general streaming providers or self-hosting with OBS on their own PC.

In a nutshell

  • Developed since January 2022
  • Released in August 2022
  • Planned, developed, and operated by a single person
  • Over 750 games streamed in ~1.5 years
  • Publishers like RawFury, Chucklefish, Hodded Horse and more (see Landing Page)
  • Fully hosted in Germany
  • Maximum focus on data protection and ecological footprint
  • Servers are powered by hydroelectricity

Links & Data

Origin

The idea for RoboStreamer came about during the “Big Adventure Event” on Steam when Chris helped a fellow developer to stream a video file as a Steam Broadcast. At that time, this was done manually using a script on one of Chris’ web servers, as streaming from one’s own PC for several days was considered too cumbersome and unstable.

After the event was over, the question remained whether there was a ready-made solution for this. It didn’t seem like it. Everyone was using their own PC and OBS to broadcast the often day-long streams.

Shortly thereafter, in January 2022, Chris decided to develop a simple service based on the initial streaming script. The goal was to create an affordable service specifically for indie developers that would make both setting up and operating a pre-recorded broadcast on Steam easy and affordable.

In August 2022, the first public beta version was ready and has since been able to win over hundreds of indie developers, studios, and publishers as satisfied users.

The Developer

The developer of RoboStreamer is Christian Engel, born in 1987 and living in Frankfurt am Main.

Since his teenage years, Chris has been interested in all things technical, especially computers and software development. He has been working as a software developer for over 15 years, was a co-owner of a small web agency for several years, and even founded a start-up that unfortunately didn’t make it, but that’s another story.

Currently, Chris works as the team lead of the “Data-Driven Portals” team for the website T-Online.de. The team develops the two portals “Economy and Finance / Stock Market” and the Sports Data Center, both of which provide millions of visitors with real-time data on the stock market and sports.

During the development of RoboStreamer, Chris got to know and appreciate many developers and publishers in the international gaming industry. He plans to continue working in this sector in the future and is currently working on the concept for another service for indies and larger development studios. This new service will focus on playtests, aiming to simplify and make them more affordable.