Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Social Media
  3. News

Facebook Live rolls out gaming-focused streaming features for laptops, desktops

Danny Cowan
By

Facebook on Tuesday introduced a set of new video-streaming features as part of its expanded Facebook Live platform that allow users to stream live video and gameplay footage from desktop or laptop computers.

In addition to promoting streamed content such as Q&As and vlogs, Facebook said its new streaming options are of particular interest to gamers, as the platform now supports streamed gameplay footage with live commentary.

Related Videos

While Facebook Live introduced streaming video features for the popular social network in 2016, the service was previously limited to mobile platforms. By opening up its streaming options to desktop and laptop PCs, Facebook Live hopes to encourage the production of high-quality instructional content and gaming tutorials among its user base.

Related

“We’re excited to announce that, as of today, people around the world can broadcast live video to Facebook from their desktop or laptop computers,” Facebook said in a press release. “While it’s been possible for people to go live to Facebook from mobile devices since last year, desktop or laptop computers provide a stable camera setup that can be beneficial to many types of Facebook Live broadcasts — from Q&As to vlogs to tutorials to any broadcast from someone who isn’t on the move.”

Facebook specifically targets the gaming market with its streaming service expansion, noting that Facebook Live now supports streaming-focused apps like Open Broadcaster Software. The platform additionally boasts support for external capture hardware, making it easy for gamers to live-stream console footage via their Facebook profiles and status updates.

Streamers can then share their gameplay footage and experiences across Facebook Profiles, Pages, and Groups.

“If you’re a gamer, this new feature makes it easier than ever to stream your PC gameplay to friends and followers, and engage with them while you play,” Facebook said. “If you’re giving your friends or followers a tutorial or how-to guide, you can incorporate on-screen graphics, titles, and overlays. Or if you’re an artist, you can go live and switch seamlessly between cameras as you narrate the process.”

Facebook users can access the platform’s suite of streaming features by clicking the new “Live Video” link that appears at the top of Facebook feeds and timelines.

Updated on 4-18-17 by Steven Petite: Added additional details on being able to share gameplay footage and experiences across Facebook Profiles, Pages, and Groups.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Xbox Series X vs. Series S
Xbox Series X Stylized Graphic

The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S represent Microsoft's fourth-generation home video game consoles designed around AMD's 8-Core Zen 2 CPU and Radeon RDNA 2 graphics architecture. The two consoles succeed the Xbox One X and Xbox One S, offering better performance and more power across the board. New features include display resolutions up to 8K, built-in solid-state drives for faster access times, and support for real-time ray tracing.

With two powerful consoles available, it's important to be aware of how they stack up against one another so you can make the most informed buying decision. Here's our Xbox Series X and Series S comparison.
Specifications
 

Read more
This console generation isn’t about games or hardware. It’s about services
A character stands below a ship in Starfield.

It’s been over two years since the start of the current console generation, which launched with a rocky start at the end of 2020. You'd think it's been more than long enough to understand what it's all about, but for many, there's still confusion. That might be changing this year. As Tomas Franzese wrote earlier this month, 2023 could be the year where we finally see what games define this generation’s consoles, at least in terms of exclusives. He also noted that games could stop being cross-platform, launching on just current-gen consoles instead of simultaneously on last-gen ones.

While that'll finally give us some memorable games, it doesn't bring us closer to defining the hardware itself. Besides a few extra teraflops and new ultra-fast SSDs, there isn’t much that helps the PS5 and Xbox Series X and S stand out from their predecessors. Sure, the PS5 looks like a giant spaceship, and the Xbox Series X is built like a fridge, but we didn’t know what these devices could offer that the PS4 and Xbox One couldn’t besides some pretty lighting effects and virtually non-existent loading times.

Read more
We now know the eye-watering price of Nvidia’s RTX 4090 gaming laptops
XMG Neo 16 gaming laptop over a green background.

Nvidia's upcoming mobile GPU range is on the way, and soon, laptops equipped with an RTX 4090 will be out in the wild. Unfortunately, they won't be cheap.

We've just spotted one such laptop, and the price is downright terrifying. If not for the portability factor of laptops, you might be better off just buying a desktop graphics card instead.

Read more