Facebook is also pushing into the streaming market. A dedicated service “FB.gg”, Facebook Gaming, aims to engage game fans and compete with Twitch. Can it succeed?
Facebook follows other platforms and now offers a large-scale streaming program for gamers. On Facebook Gaming video (URL FB.gg), users’ streams are listed and sorted by games. The structure is heavily oriented towards existing services of the competition, such as Twitch or YouTube.
Why is Facebook doing this? The streaming market is a huge business. For 2017, video game streaming is expected to generate around 4.6 billion US dollars in revenue. Facebook would like to grab a big piece of the pie. After all, Facebook has a large number of daily users that it wants to keep on its platform longer.
Facebook is running out of young users
Gaming against user attrition? Another speculation is that Facebook wants to bind users more strongly to its platform with gaming streams. Due to various data scandals and the general aging of the platform, Facebook has become increasingly unattractive for the young target group in recent years. With the topic of gaming, it seems that they are trying to counteract this and create a stronger connection again.
Streamers can earn money from their fans. Similar to Twitch, streamers on Facebook can also earn something from their viewers. The program named “Level Up” allows viewers to gift streamers of their choice with a virtual currency that can then be converted into real money. Similar to Twitch’s “Subscription”, Facebook Gaming is expected to introduce a feature soon that will allow viewers to regularly send a fixed amount to the streamers.
Speaking of streams – E3 is just around the corner:
Do you think Facebook can still establish itself in the streaming market? Or does the social network have no chance against Twitch, YouTube, and others?
