Facebook recently agreed with ESL for a new partnership to stream their Dota 2 and CS:GO tournaments. With this move, all ESL One competitions will now be streamed exclusively on Facebook and it also signifies the intent of Facebook to enter the game streaming world.
What makes it different from Twitch and Youtube Gaming?
With Twitch and Youtube Gaming being the most prominent game streaming platforms available, what makes Facebook a suitable option?
It’s mainly because of cross-posting. Facebook has a cross-posting feature that allows different Facebook pages to share or distribute the stream. With Facebook being the number 1 social media platform in the world, the global reach it provides would surely jump up the views from sharing the stream to different pages alone. Casual fans or non-fans will surely find the stream online and some of those users would stick to watching it just by coming across with it on their timeline.
Along with the cross-posting feature, Facebook also has VR streaming capabilities. The ESL competition will be streamed using Facebook 360. Fans with virtual reality units can relax and enjoy the tournament in its entire VR experience.
We’re now seeing a rising trend of game streaming on Facebook. Aspiring and established streamers are now using Facebook Live to reach a new audience. This move also makes sense for Facebook as they have a lot of users and most streamers have their own Facebook accounts already.
The question now for Facebook is how they would legitimize their site as a viable game streaming platform and how they would persuade avid Twitch streamers or fans to make the switch.
What do you guys think? Is this a win-win for both companies? Let us know in the comments section.
Source: ESL Gaming
Thanks for sharing your experience, Ira! Facebook is definitely the place where people hang out so your stream gets more viewers there. Hopefully, Facebook would further improve its platform to cater to gamers and streamers alike. :-)
I’m a game streamer who broadcasts both on Twitch and Facebook at the same time via xSplit. I must say that even though the stream quality sucks on Facebook compared to Twitch, the audience are all in Facebook. When I do an hour of game stream, the Facebook live reaches up to 4,000 views wherein my Twitch stream only gets an average of 2-3 views in that whole hour.
I really hope Facebook improves the streaming platform for gamers, improve the streaming quality for the audience, and help out in monetization as well.