Facebook 游戏与直播同行

由约翰 P. 梅洛 小 21， 2020 10：25 上午

Facebook周一推出了一个免费的独立应用程序，用于在Android设备上创建和观看实时视频游戏游戏。

大约7亿用户已经在平台上参与游戏，但Facebook的专用应用程序正在锁定市场领导者——亚马逊、谷歌和微软。

在获得苹果批准后，该公司将发布用于 iOS 设备的 Facebook 游戏应用。据《纽约时报》周日报道，该公司原定于6月发行，但现场游戏市场增长的波动促使该公司提前上市。

马萨诸塞州牛顿市一家研究、咨询和分析公司"战略分析"的数字媒体主管迈克尔·古德曼（Michael Goodman）表示："在大流行出现之前，直播是一个增长机会，在Strategy Analytics大流行过去很久之后，直播将是一个增长机会。

他告诉TechNewsWorld说："这里改变微积分的是，Facebook已经加快了发布这个程序的计划，以利用人们现在在家进行更多流媒体播放的事实。

古德曼补充说："他认为这是一个机会，可以在这个时间点获得一些提升，以采用这项服务。

虚弱世界的热门市场

实时游戏流是市场的重要增长领域。

"Facebook 优先考虑规模庞大且具有显著增长潜力的市场。流媒体游戏符合这两个标准，"古德曼指出。

马萨诸塞州弗雷明厄姆市场研究公司IDC游戏研究主管刘易斯 沃德（LewisWard）表示："自COVID-19大流行以来，全球游戏流媒体的观众人数和花费的时间都显著激增。

"看到Facebook加速并推出这个程序，我并不感到惊讶，"他告诉TechNewsWorld。

总部位于德克萨斯州奥斯汀的技术分析师和咨询公司摩尔洞察与战略公司高级分析师Mark N. Vena认为，进入现场游戏领域对Facebook来说是一种自然的举动。

他告诉TechNewsWorld："由于Facebook的全球足迹仍然很大，一个特定于游戏的应用程序是它们影响力和影响力的自然延伸。

Vena 说："它们不包括在应用中的广告，至少现在是这样，因此他们的盈利机会非常有限，但随着时间的推移，这种机会可能会发生变化。

他补充说，这个程序允许Facebook对亚马逊的Twitch和谷歌的YouTube进行更严重的视频游戏直播。。

用户吸引力

Facebook 将实时游戏视为一个重要的增长领域。

"YouTube、Twitch和（微软）混音器上游戏流的兴起非常值得注意，"英国巴辛斯托克市场研究、预测和咨询公司瞻博网络研究首席分析师尼克 梅纳德（NickMaynard）表示。

他告诉TechNewsWorld，货币化最初将受到限制，粉丝们只能向内容创作者支付少量的一次性付款，但Facebook已经承诺，未来将探索其他方法，以赚钱。新应用的一些功能应该吸引用户。

"他们将获得对游戏的无缝访问，并增加与内容创作者互动的潜力，"梅纳德说。

"通过应用程序本地流式传输移动游戏的前景也很有趣，"他继续说，"因为它将允许用户加入并成为内容创作者。

Facebook 用户已经可以通过计算机或移动设备上的 Web 浏览器访问游戏内容，但独立应用有一些优势。

IDC 的 Ward 解释道："这在一定程度上是提供基于应用的替代方案，它通常更具可定制性，具有更好的用户界面，并且将应用打开到流式广告中。

然而，"Twitch和其他人已经在这个市场建立了良好的地位，"梅纳德指出。"Facebook 必须提供一些非常创新的功能，让主要内容创作者在他们的平台上，使其吸引用户。

不冷系数

战略分析的古德曼说，大多数高调的游戏流媒体被锁定在合同中，因此Facebook将不得不与主要玩家不同程度地增加市场份额。

"对于Facebook来说，这不是一个难得的机会。这是一个成熟的市场，一些相当大的公司已经参与其中，"他说。

"Facebook有一个单独的应用程序，一个零星的记录，"古德曼说，"所以问题不是'Facebook是成功的流媒体游戏？

易用性可以吸引用户使用 Facebook 应用程序。

"我认为它会受到许多用户的欢迎，因为与其他实时游戏服务不同，它通常不需要专门的第三方软件和硬件来广播游戏，"Moor Insights的维纳指出。

另一方面，应用程序可能有一个不好的方面。

Vena 解释道："新款应用程序包括休闲游戏，这些游戏很受旧用户的欢迎，但可能不与喜欢游戏机或 PC 游戏的年轻游戏玩家合作，例如Fortnite和其他流行的、更图形密集型的游戏。

COVID-19 尾风

《纽约时报》指出，游戏是一个价值1600亿美元的全球市场。今年，市场正在蓬勃发展。

"自1月1日以来，全球游戏流明显上升，"沃德指出。

梅纳德解释说，随着网络游戏越来越受竞争驱动，越来越多的游戏玩家开始转向流媒体来提高自己的性能。

"他们还观看游戏，从他们最喜欢的游戏玩家那里获取内容，"他说。

此外，Maynard 指出，游戏平台中的集成和流媒体工具的访问使内容民主化，这意味着流媒体越来越容易访问。

Vena 指出，提高带宽可用性和更快的无线连接速度是多年来扩大游戏市场的驱动力。

他说："一般来说，在PC和游戏机层面，整体在线游戏体验也变得更加简单，让更多用户能够体验它，而不会打瞌睡。"除此之外，COVID-19已经成为观看游戏和玩网络游戏的一个强大逆风，"Vena说，"因为儿童和青少年在家的时间要长很多。

Facebook Gaming Powers Ahead With Live Streaming

By John P. Mello Jr. Apr 21, 2020 10:25 AM PT

https://www.technewsworld.com/story/86624.html

Facebook on Monday launched a free standalone app for creating and watching live video game play on Android devices.

Some 700 million users already engage in gaming on the platform, but with its dedicated app Facebook is locking horns with the leaders in the market -- Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

The company will release the Facebook Gaming app for iOS devices after it's approved by Apple. It originally scheduled its release for June, but a bump in growth in the live gameplay market induced the company to make it available sooner, The New York Times reported Sunday.

"Live streaming was a growth opportunity before the pandemic came along, and it's going to be a growth opportunity long after the pandemic has passed," observed Michael Goodman, director for digital media at Strategy Analytics, a research, advisory and analytics firm Newton, Massachusetts.

"What's changed the calculus here is that Facebook has accelerated its plans to release this app to take advantage of the fact that people are doing more streaming from home now," he told TechNewsWorld.

"It sees that as an opportunity to get some lift for adoption of this service at this point in time," Goodman added.

Hot Market in a Sick World

Live game streaming is a significant growth area in the marketplace.

"Facebook prioritizes markets that are large and have significant growth potential. Streaming games fits both those criteria," Goodman noted.

"Gameplay streaming has seen a significant worldwide surge in viewers and hours spent on all platforms since the COVID-19 pandemic hit," said Lewis Ward, research director for gaming at IDC, a market research firm in Framingham, Massachusetts.

"I'm not surprised to see Facebook accelerate and launch this app," he told TechNewsWorld.

Entering the live gaming arena is a natural move for Facebook, maintained Mark N. Vena, senior analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy, a technology analyst and advisory firm based in Austin, Texas.

"As Facebook's global footprint continues to be huge, a gaming-specific app is a natural extension of their reach and influence," he told TechNewsWorld.

"They don't include ads in the app -- at least now -- so their monetization opportunity is pretty limited, but that's likely to change over time," Vena said.

The app allows Facebook to pose a more serious competitive threat to Amazon's Twitch and Google's YouTube for live video game broadcasts, he added.

User Appeal

Facebook sees live gaming as a significant growth area.

"The rise of game streaming on YouTube, Twitch and [Microsoft's] Mixer has been very noteworthy," said Nick Maynard, lead analyst at Juniper Research, a market research, forecasting and consulting company in Basingstoke, UK.

Monetization initially will be limited, with fans able to make only small one-off payments to content creators, but Facebook already has pledged to explore additional ways to monetize the app in the future, he told TechNewsWorld. Some features of the new app should appeal to users.

"They will gain seamless access to games, as well as increased potential for interaction with content creators," Maynard observed.

"The prospect of streaming mobile games natively via the app is also interesting," he continued, "as it will allow users to join in and become content creators."

Facebook users already can access gaming content through a Web browser on a computer or mobile device, but there are some advantages to a standalone app.

"This is partly about offering an app-based alternative, which is often more customizable and has a better user interface, and opens the app up to in-stream ads," IDC's Ward explained.

However, "Twitch and others are already well established in this market," Maynard pointed out. "Facebook will have to offer some very innovative features, and get major content creators on their platform to make it appealing to users."

Uncool Factor

The majority of high-profile game streamers are locked up in contracts, so Facebook is going to have to grow its market share differently from the major players, said Strategy Analytics' Goodman.

"This isn't a greenfield opportunity for Facebook. This is an established marketplace with some pretty big players already in it," he said.

"Facebook has a spotty record with separate apps," Goodman observed, "so the question is not 'Will Facebook be successful streaming games?' -- they're already successful streaming games -- but 'Will they be successful splitting out a separate service streaming games?'"

Ease of use could attract users to the Facebook app.

"I think it will be popular with many users because unlike other live gaming services, it doesn't usually require dedicated third party software and hardware to broadcast gameplay," Moor Insights' Vena noted.

On the other hand, there might be an uncool aspect to the app.

"The new app includes casual games, which are popular with older users but may not be with young gamers who prefer console or PC gameplay, like Fortnite and other popular, more graphics-intensive games," Vena explained.

COVID-19 Tailwind

Games are a US$160 billion global market, the NYT noted. This year, the market is booming.

"There been a very clear rise in global gameplay streaming since Jan. 1," Ward noted.

As online gaming becomes more competition-driven, more gamers are turning to streaming to improve their performance, Maynard explained.

"They also watch gameplay to access content from their favorite gamers," he said.

In addition, integrations in gaming platforms and access to streaming tools have democratized content, meaning that streaming is increasingly accessible, Maynard pointed out.

Greater bandwidth availability and faster wireless connectivity have been drivers expanding the gameplay market over the last few years, Vena noted.

"The overall online gaming experience has also become easier, in general, at the PC and console level, allowing more users to experience it without hiccups," he said. "On top of that, COVID-19 has become a strong tailwind for watching gameplay and playing online games," said Vena, "as children and teenagers are spending significantly more time at home."