Valve introduces Steam Big Picture for TVs

Sometimes you just want to kick it in the living room.

Valve is bringing Steam to your television with its latest client update “Big Picture.”

Big Picture supports a new full-screen user interface optimized for the TV experience. While still supporting the mouse and keyboard, it’s designed to be used with a traditional controller.

To make use of Big Picture, gamers would need to plug their PC or Mac into their TV via HDMI. Through the new interace, players can access their collection of games, the Steam store, the Steam community, cloud files, account preferences, and so on. It also includes a new web browser designed for televisions and game controllers, accessible from anywhere within the mode’s user interface.

“PC gaming continues to be the leading edge of entertainment, whether it’s social gaming, MMOs, graphics hardware, free-to-play, or competitive gaming,” said Gabe Newell, president of Valve. “With Big Picture for Steam, we are trying to do our part to give customers and developers what they want – their games, everywhere, optimized for the environment in which they are playing.”

Read more about Big Picture here. If you have Steam installed, you can jump into the beta now. Watch a video below.