Facebook on Friday unveiled a portal devoted to streaming video game play and commentary, as it ramped up its challenge to Amazon-owned Twitch and Google’s YouTube for e-sports fans.
Gaming creator program lead John Imah and product manager Nick Miller described the new venue at fb.gg as a “gaming video destination” that Facebook recently began testing.
“People will be able to discover gaming video on our new destination based on creators and games they follow, pages they like and groups they belong to,” they said in a blog post.
Live and recorded gaming video are aggregated at the social network’s new portal, they said.
“Many people already watch gaming videos in News Feed, Groups and Pages, and we want to do more to help creators get discovered and reach new fans,” they added.
They also announced efforts aimed at cultivating and supporting people who create video game-related video for viewing online.
Facebook launched a gaming creator program at the beginning of this year.
Digital content from video game industry events and e-sports competitions are to be among the offerings at fb.gg.
“To seed the ecosystem, inspire others and bring great content to fb.gg, we are funding content from creators and e-sports that will also be aggregated in our gaming video destination,” Imah and Miller said.
The announcement comes ahead of the video game industry’s major Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, where Facebook is to showcase efforts to build a “community for gamers,” the statement said.
A hot trend of video game play streamed as spectator sport and YouTubers becoming famous for skills or pithy commentary was expected to pervade the annual gathering, which is to feature a first-ever celebrity pro-am tournament of raging popular death-match game Fortnite.
Last year, unveilings of eagerly awaited titles and new franchises at the expo were streamed live on platforms including Facebook, Twitch and YouTube — drawing hundreds of thousands of viewers.
Twitch was an e-sports pioneer, but faces increasing pressure from Facebook and YouTube as ranks of e-sports viewers grow along with the money to be made.
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS