The social giant Facebook truly acknowledge the influence of gamers that are able to spearhead the boom of livestreaming videos.
To embrace the gaming industry into a new level, the company is making its initial approach in gaming livestreaming, starting with a partnership with Blizzard.
The maker of popular games such as Warcraft, StarCraft Heartstone and Diablo, said that it will integrate Facebook's Live API into all of its game.
The first game from Blizzard that is adding the Facebook's API is the team shooter title Overwatch, which Facebook previously collaborated in promoting its campaign..
What this means is that gamers will be able to livestream straight into their Facebook timelines. This again will allow friends to see what they do "live".
Gamers can also be logged in into their Blizzard games along with their Facebook accounts. The two companies noted that this is the first step in adding new social functionality into Blizzard games, and the two are hoping to benefit from the plan that allows people to access, share, view and discuss gaming content more readily.
By having game livestreaming in its platform, Facebook also knows now it's playing in the market where it is still a rookie. In terms of game livestreaming, Facebook is already steps behind Twitch and YouTube. But nonetheless, Facebook can use its ubiquity to make a dent to their market.
Having the ability to livestream gaming would benefit both Facebook and the creator of games as well as users. For example, linking up with Facebook means that players will be able to sign up for and log in to those games and others using their Facebook accounts and, in time, livestream their gameplay sessions directly to Facebook.
Facebook friends can also be able to subscribe in order to receive notifications of live broadcasts when available.
And as for Blizzard, given how the company has success in some of the most popular games on the market, there is little doubt that many people will take advantage of this new feature.
"Blizzard games are best when played with friends, so it's important to us to provide our players with features and services that make it easy and fun to share their experiences with each other," said Gio Hunt, an executive vice president of Blizzard, in the statement.
Blizzard has already hosted livestreams on Facebook, including Heroes of the Dorm which is a special tournament for university students centered on its Heroes of the Storm game.
If Blizzard finds success with Facebook livestreaming, it's reasonable and predictable that we will see more major publishers to pour in.