On Monday, April 20, 2020, Facebook launched a mobile app called Facebook Gaming, where people are able to create and watch live gameplay. This move by Facebook makes them a rival with the likes of Amazon’s Twitch, Google’s YouTube and Microsoft’s Mixer in the streaming space.
The Facebook Gaming app is similar to the gaming tab on Facebook, but this time it allows mobile gamers livestream their mobile games. The app’s prominent feature is the “Go Live,” button which lets users livestream mobile games directly from their smartphone to Facebook. This eliminates the need for dedicated third-party software and hardware which people usually require to broadcast themselves playing games on platforms like Twitch.
The app will initially be available on the Google Play app store, with an iOS version in the works for a later date.
What does it mean for gamers and viewers in Africa you would say? Content creation and livestreaming has be held back with factors such as data, and most especially knowledge and interest in other apps that are not popular social media apps like Instagram, Facebook and Whatsapp. With Facebook Gaming, building interest will not be far fetched because of the popularity of the Facebook brand.
The growth of mobile gaming in the continent will also see a wide acceptance of the Facebook Gaming app, since it doesn’t require third part application to enable streaming.
With an increasing interest in viewership of livestreams on apps such as Instagram during this coronavirus period, hopefully such interest will extend to mobile gaming livestreams.
