‘Facebook’ Declares War Against ‘Twitch’ And ‘YouTube’; ‘Blizzard’ Picks A Side [Video]

“Facebook” is the single biggest global social network in the world with over 1 billion users, and they got that way by trying to get the biggest slice of the pie they can. Thanks to the increasing popularity of video game streaming via “YouTube” and “Twitch,” the social site has now set its sights on the rising phenomenon. According to Tech Crunch, “Facebook’s” new deal with “Blizzard Entertainment” is the first step towards video game live streaming conquest.

Announcing that “Facebook” sign-in features will now be implemented across the board with their roster of games, the company behind titles like “World of Warcraft” and the recent blockbuster hit “Overwatch” has given the social media giant direct access to their games. With this deal, “Facebook” users will now be able to take advantage of the Live Streaming feature of the site to share a live shot of their games with their friends.  

Basically, someone who is playing “Overwatch” would simply need to push the “Go Live” button so that his friends over at “Facebook” can watch him as he plays. This will also allow users to find other players through “Facebook” as well.

This works in a similar way to “YouTube” and “Twitch,” both of which rule the roost of video game live streaming at the moment. To see how well Live Streaming works with “Facebook,” Polygon is providing footage of their experience since they have been using the feature while playing “Hearthstone.”

No matter how much the social media brand wants to be the biggest name in the game-streaming industry, though, it will take them some time to catch up to the polished system of “Twitch.” The 100 million monthly users on “Twitch” have gotten used to smooth streaming and live chat, along with the frame positioning and number of popular streamers. “Twitch’s” new owner “Amazon” won’t be giving up the position of the asset they acquired to “Facebook” either, not after paying $970 million for it in 2014.