It’s a bit more commonplace lately to see video game manufacturers try to reach out to more casual audiences with film and music programming. Sony has Music and Video Unlimited programs in place on its PlayStation consoles, while Microsoft has promised original programming for owners of its Xbox systems. Now, it appears Steam could be getting into the act.

Following a recent Beta update for the service, a listing over on Steam (discovered by the Steam Database Twitter account @SteamDB) indicates that Valve could be expanding multimedia channels for its gaming service. This could mean the addition of various films and TV shows, as well as additional support for videos and plug-ins, as well as music.

Steam does currently offer this, in sparingly fashion, with a Steam Music Beta currently happening and a few moves, including Indie Games: The Movie, available for purchase. However, this move could indicate that Valve could be looking for more original programming, in the same approach that Sony and Microsoft are for their respective consoles.

This could be part of Valve’s initiative to take over living rooms, as first initiated with the launch of the Big Picture service in 2012, which allows users to stream their Steam-related content to their televisions. Considering that the company is planning to push its Steam Consoles into homes starting in 2015, a move like this can easily make sense, especially when it comes to attracting more casual audiences that aren’t looking to play games all the game. (Of course, the avid video gamer audience is likely to be hooked as well.)

Valve didn’t comment on the leaked data, but is likely to provide more details closer to the launch of the various Steam Machines units in 2015. Steam has an audience of 75 million customers, who would be prime targets to sell movies, video and music either as downloads or via streaming.

What do you think? Will Steam benefit from delving into original programming, or do you think it should stick to a more “on-demand”-style set-up like Netflix and Hulu possess Maybe a little of both?

Source: IGN