Facebook, coming app to challenge Twitch

Facebook Gaming is the new app dedicated to streaming video games. Available for PC and Android, it will also be coming soon to iOS

Facebook launches a challenge to Amazon's Twitch and Google's YouTube in the area of online video game streaming. The Menlo Prk company has made available for Android users the new Facebook Gaming app dedicated exclusively to video game streaming. The app is the mobile version of the "Games" service that has been available on the Menlo Park social network since last year and is accessible from the navigation bar of the desktop app.

Facebook Gaming is currently available only for Android smartphones and tablets, but an Apple version for iPhone and iPad is expected to be available soon. Facebook has decided to make its way into the videogame community, an important decision for the social network that is always ready to try to grab new market shares. And the world of videogames and eSports is growing fast, especially in these days of lockdown: the traffic on Twitch has exploded, thanks to the arrival of VIPs and sportsmen in the flesh, such as Charles Leclerc, who became a "professional streamer".

What is the Facebook Gaming app

The release of Facebook Gaming was scheduled for June, but the health emergency due to the spread of the Coronavirus and the subsequent quarantine have accelerated the plans of Mark Zuckerberg's company, actually anticipating the launch of the new app, an application that has been tested in Asia and Latin America. Facebook said that out of 2.5 billion users, 700 million are those who use content related to the world of video games. Facebook Gaming will allow users to play games online using their phones, view posts from developers, keep up to date with gaming news, see famous streamers play live and other cool features.

As Facebook app manager Fidji Simo told the New York Times, "We're seeing a huge growth in gaming usage during the quarantine. Investing in games in general has become a priority of ours because they are a form of entertainment that really connects people. It's not just a passive form of consumption, but interactive entertainment that brings people together."