Facebook has launched a new Game Livestreaming Feature to compete with Twitch

Posted on March 23, 2017

1 min read

I love the ongoing battle between Twitch TV, the world’s biggest gaming streaming platform – and their push to become more socially orientated contrasted with Facebook, the world’s biggest social platform, pushing for live streaming. Facebook has recently signed a number of partnerships with companies like Activision Blizzard for the broadcasting rights of Call of Duty and Heroes of The Storm, but streaming was only possible via Pages and not easily accessible via one’s personal page. That all changed today as Facebook rolled out their new Game Livestreaming services which makes the sharing of gameplay easily accessible for all.

The “Live Video” option, which now appears on the top of the newsfeed, will allow you to share your gameplay, camera, custom graphics, overalys, etc. to any page, group or event. The focus is primarily on gaming as Facebook Live has existed for quite some time. Many gamers have already been sharing their gameplay via Facebook Live with Blizzard’s livestreaming application through the Battle.net client, but this new feature is direct livestream from a number of applications.

This feature was originally available for Pages, so if you’re unfamiliar with the process it’s quite simple. The new feature does not seem to be live just yet, but when it is you can make use of any program, I’d recommend OBS (read our guide here), and get streaming. Facebook is locally cached so if you’re lucky enough to have fast internet, you’ll have no problem streaming your gameplay to your friends.

It’s a refreshing thought that a company as large as Facebook is placing a huge emphasis on gaming (and esports). Twitch just announced their social platform, and this was Facebook’s big move. You’re next, Twitch.