Facebook To Launch Game Streaming Service To Compete With Twitch and YouTube
Facebook is now looking to expand into the video game streaming market by giving content creators an alternative platform to Twitch and Youtube. In addition to providing the ability to stream in 1080p at 60 frames per second, the social network is also helping creators look for ways to monetize their content.
Following last year's launch of a Creator app for video hosts to create more video content, the company quietly launched the pilot program with a few dozen gamers over the past couple of months and is currently working to bring in more.
"We are now scaling to a much bigger number than that," said Facebook's director of games partnerships Guy Cross. "We are signing up new gaming creators every single day."
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Last Saturday, an event was hosted on Daybreak's "H1Z1" Facebook page to bring dozens of these creators into the new program. Among the streamers included in this first batch of creators were Misses Mae, Doom49 and The Warp Zone. Additional content creators are set to be revealed during April's PAX East conference with Facebook giving gamers the ability to sign up for a wait-list online.
The social network points to the success of gaming creators like StoneMountain64 who has around 1 million followers watching his Facebook Live streams of his gameplay as the catalyst for their decision to pursue video game content. And by allowing streamers to broadcast their game at 1080p – the holy grail of gaming resolution – the company hopes to differentiate its game live streaming efforts from existing competitors.
The company is looking to incentivize streamers by implementing monetization systems for those in the creator's program, likely through payments during live streams. The system has already yielded positive results according to Cross although he did reveal that Facebook has yet to decide on a possible revenue split with these kinds of systems.
In addition to offering better a better platform to content creators, Facebook's social networking background also offers a bit of an advantage over current streaming platforms. As gaming creator program lead John Imah puts it, "It's great to go to a stadium, but it's even better sitting in that stadium next to 5 of your friends."
