Recently, Facebook launched Facebook Live, a live streaming service built right into your Facebook page. This allows practically anyone to share what they are doing, live to the world, through their smartphone's camera. Facebook has now taken that service and has begun to expand it to gaming, launching Facebook Live Game Streaming through a partnership with Blizzard.
Live game streaming has been getting more and more popular over the years. It used to be that Twitch.tv was the only game in town that could generate a significant audience. Sure, there are other streaming websites, but if I can’t name them off the top of my head, not many other people can either. Now, we have YouTube Gaming, which has garnered a decent chunk of the market share over the last year, but that’s not the only heavy hitter vying for the game streamers.
Blizzard has added support for Facebook Live directly into the Blizzard game launcher. Following an update that came out on August 26, Blizzard fans will find a Stream button in the upper right corner of the launcher. When you click on it, you’ll be prompted to give the game permission to access your Facebook account. Once the app has permission to post, and your settings are configured, you can start streaming directly to your Facebook page at any time with the click of a single button.
Facebook Live Game Streaming supports all of Blizzard's game library, including Overwatch, Diablo III, and Starcraft II.
So far, there have been no announcements about other games, developers or publishers embracing Facebook Live Game Streaming, but we imagine it’s only a matter of time before others join in. Facebook Live has the potential to bring large audiences to live game streaming simply by virtue of it being where the people are, as it were. With well over a billion monthly active users, the potential to build a following is virtually limitless. Of course, it remains to be seen if and how Facebook will monetize the service to entice the professional streamers.
