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Microsoft Acquires Beam Game Streaming Service, Embracing Alternative To Amazon's Twitch (geekwire.com)

Posted by msmash on from the video-is-future dept.

An anonymous reader shares a GeekWire report: Microsoft's Xbox group announced Thursday that it has acquired Seattle-based interactive game streaming service Beam, bringing the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant into an arena dominated by Amazon's Twitch. Microsoft said in a blog post the deal will help make Xbox more social and interactive. Beam launched in January, with a goal of giving people watching gamers the ability to participate in the experience. Viewers can affect gameplay by presenting new challenges and quests using visual controls.

29 comments

  1. Avoid this service by this big nasty company. by jellomizer · · Score: 2

    Go with us as a refreshing alternative. We are just as big nasty. But it is an alternative.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    1. Re:Avoid this service by this big nasty company. by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      Go with us as a refreshing alternative. We are just as big nasty. But it is an alternative.

      Unfortunately it's going to take a big company to mount any serious competition to Twitch. A big company other than Google who can't be bothered to no half-ass new products anymore.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    2. Re: Avoid this service by this big nasty company. by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 0

      Took? You eat that stuff?

  2. A betrayal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There go all your account details and analytics, swallowed by Microsoft.

  3. RIP Beam by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 0

    That's the destiny that awaits companies taken over by the filthy beast at Redmond.

  4. Making XBox more social? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Somehow I can't believe an antisocial company can pull something like this off.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  5. Good Luck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If Google / YouTube can't make a dent in Twitch what's Microsoft gonna do?

    1. Re:Good Luck by Holi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      remove Twitch from the Xbox

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    2. Re:Good Luck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +1 Insightful

    3. Re: Good Luck by ewanm89 · · Score: 1

      Beam has already made a news in the game streaming community, for one reason and one reason only. Stream latency, beam had negligible latency of pushing the stream from ingest servers through their network and back out to the streaming clients, This is why interactivity works better on beam (it exists on twitch too, see "twitch plays Pokémon") . Unfortunately there is an issue with this, the low latency is due to low throughout compared to twitch which at any one time is handling thousands of streams to tens of thousands of clients.

    4. Re:Good Luck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In-app streaming is garbage, get an AVerMedia Gamer Portable, they can pull Twitch out of XBox but they can't stop me streaming XBox on Twitch

    5. Re:Good Luck by EvilSS · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If Google / YouTube can't make a dent in Twitch what's Microsoft gonna do?

      To be honest, and not saying MS will succeed here, but Google has been half-assing new products for a few years now. It's like they have a severe case of corporate ADHD. I don't think we can use Google failing at something as a valid comparison anymore. They are not the Google they were in the early 2000's.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    6. Re:Good Luck by tepples · · Score: 1

      In-app streaming is garbage, get an AVerMedia Gamer Portable

      The first thing on the product description page is a boxed, all-caps notice:

      RECORDING PROTECTED HD CONTENT
      WITH A SPLITTER IS PROHIBITED BY LAW.

      Because video games are audiovisual works, their output is protected by copyright. Nintendo used copyright against MLG in 2010, and other publishers have the right to use it again in the future. Even with publishers that are willing to license their games for streaming, such as Nintendo nowadays, a royalty for the game itself is a cost that esport leagues have and physical sport leagues do not.

      Further down on the page is

      * LGP does not support viewing/recording/streaming of HDCP protected signals

      Do the major video game consoles use HDCP on their output? I know OUYA does, and in my opinion, inability to share gameplay videos was a significant part of what caused OUYA to fizzle out.

    7. Re:Good Luck by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

      Then they can make some copyright / eula / dmca claims.

    8. Re:Good Luck by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

      Virtually every single major streamer that streams from XB One or PS4 (or other consoles) does so using a capture card. Most use OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) to overlay other stuff onto the stream. Often a webcam view, alerts when they get new subs or donations, and other miscellaneous stuff.

      Very few of the well-viewed streamers stream directly from the console.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    9. Re:Good Luck by MBGMorden · · Score: 2

      Yes, but really, YouTube Live truly isn't that bad as a delivery platform. As a matter of fact - it seems to be catching on relatively well EXCEPT for video game streaming. People are just used to going to Twitch for that.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    10. Re:Good Luck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is a difference between breaking encrypted HD signal, and broadcasting/monetising videos of gameplay without a license to do so. The first is illegal due to DCMA IIRC, and the second is copyright infringement. From a quick search, Xbone has HDCP capabilities, but selectively; it will output from TV/movie apps in HDCP mode, but should (there appears to have been a bug at some point) switch back to non-protected mode when the app is closed.
      On the broadcasting/monetizing gameplay videos point, many games will specifically allow this in their license (since the advertising benefits have the potential to be incredibly huge). Nintendo, famously, does not like this, and does not allow this.

    11. Re:Good Luck by EvilSS · · Score: 2

      Yes, but really, YouTube Live truly isn't that bad as a delivery platform. As a matter of fact - it seems to be catching on relatively well EXCEPT for video game streaming. People are just used to going to Twitch for that.

      Youtube Live isn't bad but they did that half-hearted game streaming launch last year (gaming.youtube.com) and it so far has been a huge flop. They just kind of threw it out there and forgot about it. Twitch needs a real competitor. Google fumbled it. Microsoft is really about the last hope for one now. God help us all.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    12. Re:Good Luck by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      Do the major video game consoles use HDCP on their output?

      Yes, but you can disable it for games, why did you not know this already? Do you not know how to google?

      http://manuals.playstation.net...

      I know OUYA does, and in my opinion, inability to share gameplay videos was a significant part of what caused OUYA to fizzle out.

      Significant? In what fantasy world do you live in. The real reason Ouya failed is that the masses don't want a microconsole to play sucky android games and emulators.

    13. Re:Good Luck by CronoCloud · · Score: 2

      I stream but rarely, but when I do, I tend to stream to Google. Why?

      The streams are archived youtube style. Twitch deletes videos after 14 days for free users.

  6. Doesn't this act ever get old for them? by HBI · · Score: 1

    Purchasing a competing version of everything that already exists sounds more like IBM in its doldrums than Microsoft in its heyday. They'd be best served by choosing a core competency and sticking to it.

    Microsoft today is more evil than when Ballmer was running things into the ground.

    --
    HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
    1. Re:Doesn't this act ever get old for them? by Luthair · · Score: 1

      The funny part is its a delayed reaction (much like Youtube Gaming), literally years after Twitch became massively popular the giants start paying attention. It seems like Facebook is the only tech company that quickly copies up and coming ideas.

    2. Re:Doesn't this act ever get old for them? by The-Ixian · · Score: 2

      It takes a LOT of TPS reports, pointless memos, impotent meetings and middle management to make come about...

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
  7. The Problem... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The problem is that only Microsoft is embracing Beam. Everyone else is using Twitch.

  8. Now, Beam can be an Acronym by ItsJustAPseudonym · · Score: 1

    BEAM = Beam Envies Amazon Market

    This message brought to you by the "Bing Is Not Google" department.

  9. super low-latencyvideos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    A better summary from The Next Web (No affiliate)

    Microsoft is getting into the livestreaming game with its latest purchase. The company has picked up Beam, a six-month-old service that competes with Twitch and YouTube gaming.

    Beam’s key advantage over the big players is its super low-latencyvideos, allowing users to interact with streamers in something that approaches real time (instead of the usual 10 second delay). That makes streaming more of an active back-and-forth with broadcasters, adding an interactive element that Twitch and YouTube gamers can’t quite achieve

    For example, you could be playingCounter Strike, and get instant suggestions from your streamers as to how to strategize. In Minecraft, you could get advice on where to place your next set of blocks. Or maybe you just need some help getting through a Halo mission – that’s a lot more useful without the delay.

    The purchase is specifically focused on Xbox, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see live-streaming become a native feature for the next iteration of the console – or perhaps even in the current one.

    In the meantime, Beam says nothing will change for current users; the Microsoft purchase will simply pour more resources into the company – and scale more quickly – than it might have otherwise.

    http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2016/08/11/microsoft-just-bought-livestream-service-thats-faster-twitch-youtube/

  10. What else is there to say but.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Kappa