In an announcement on March 22nd, Facebook revealed that it is now possible to stream through personal profiles.
Previously streaming through software or external hardware from a computer was possible, but only through a Page. The announcement suggests that after community feedback, the ability to stream through profiles is a welcomed adjustment.
The news reads as follows: “If you’re a gamer, this new feature makes it easier than ever to stream your PC gameplay to friends and followers and engage with them while you play. If you’re giving your friends or followers a tutorial or how-to guide, you can incorporate on-screen graphics, titles, and overlays. Or if you’re an artist, you can go live and switch seamlessly between cameras as you narrate the process.”
It will also allow people to broadcast to Facebook Groups they belong to, Events they’re part of or Pages they manage.
This is an intriguing move from Facebook as they look to step up their game with regards to live streaming. At the moment, Twitch remains almost unrivalled and with the Amazon owned company’s recent Desktop App amongst other innovations they’re certainly still untouchable in the streaming space. For now at least.
We’ve seen 2017 quickly develop into a year where broadcasting rights are becoming increasingly important in esports. We’ve seen YouTube pick up exclusivity on a few Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments, Riot signing a deal with MLB Bam Tech for League of Legends and events even being brought to Twitter.
At present, Facebook has yet to really hit the esports space particularly hard although with the widening of their streaming service there may well be activity on that front at some point in the future. It may well just be a matter of time.
Esports Insider says: Interesting move this one from Facebook – but if you have the platform then why not? It’ll be interesting to see if anyone moves away from Twitch as it still seems there’s little to no way to monetise your Facebook streaming. I doubt we’ll see many move, but there’s likely to be further developments to the product in time.
