Free Gaming from Facebook and YouTube with a stand-alone gaming app
Facebook’s gaming division is ramping up efforts to compete with
Twitch and YouTube with a new, dedicated mobile app that will let enthusiasts
easily discover and watch live gameplays — leaving no stone unturned in
its effort to capitalize on the spike in video game streaming
Simply called plans to release it for iOS “once Apple approves”
the listing. Facebook Gaming, according to a report in The New York Times,
the app is expected to launch publicly for Android phones on Monday, April 20,
after about 18 months of testing in select regions. The company eventually
In addition to curating content from professional streamers, the
app will also allow users to play casual games such as Words With Friends, and
it includes a feature called Go Live to let anyone stream themselves playing
mobile games.
Until now, users who wanted to watch gaming streams on Facebook had to jump
through a few hoops on the already cluttered main app. The social networking
giant claims 700 million of its 2.5 billion monthly users engage with gaming
content; the new app is expected to make Facebook Gaming a lot more accessible
for these millions of users. But other than Messenger, Facebook hasn’t had much
success with spinoff apps, so it remains to be seen whether this new app ends
up being an exception.
The Facebook Gaming app is now live for
Android users. You can download it from HERE
“Investing in gaming, in general, has become a priority for us because we see
gaming as a form of entertainment that really connects people. It’s
entertainment that’s not just a form of passive consumption but entertainment
that is interactive and brings people together,” Fidji Simo, head of the
Facebook app, told the Times.
Over the last few weeks, as video game streaming figures surge
across the world, companies have been actively optimizing their platforms to
capture the growing traffic. Even after so many years, however, Facebook Gaming
hasn’t been able to stand its grounds against Amazon’s Twitch and YouTube that
together today command over 90% of the market. And looming over the horizon is
Microsoft’s Mixer that has been roping in popular streamers through exclusive
contracts.
As per StreamLabs,
a live-streaming platform, from February to March, watch hours soared by 23% on
Twitch, 10.7% on YouTube Gaming Live, 3.8% on Facebook Gaming, and 14.9% on
Mixer.
Facebook itself, earlier in April, launched a tool called
Tournaments that enabled games to organize and take part in virtual
competitions. “People are watching streams and they’re like, ‘I want to be a
streamer,’ and with Go Live it’s literally just a few clicks and then live,
you’re a streamer,” added Simo added.
Free Gaming from Facebook and YouTube with a stand-alone gaming app
Reviewed by Msalo
on
April 21, 2020
Rating:
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