Facebook, one of the leading social media platforms, is now making a push into the gaming market with its new app called Facebook Gaming. The development comes at a time when the demand in this space is increased because of the coronavirus lockdowns.
The company has said that using the Facebook Gaming app, users will be able to create and watch live gameplay. This new offering from the social media giant will compete against the likes of Twitch from Amazon, YouTube from Google and Mixer from Microsoft.
As per the reports, the app has already been available for testing in Southeast Asia and Latin America since past 18 months. The service will have a feature called “Go Live” which enables users to livestream mobile games directly from their smartphone to Facebook.
For now, it seems that the company isn’t monetising this with ads. Instead, it lets people earn money with “stars” which fans can give with one-time payments. However, the company has said that it will explore more monetisation options over time.
Initially, the application will be available for download from Google Play Store and the company says that the iOS app is in the works and will be launched at a later date. The company says it already has more than 700 million users who interact with gaming content and with dedicated Facebook Gaming app, the company hopes to get more traction.
