Optimizing Facebook’s Gaming App
Facebook was the first social media platform to offer gaming entertainment for their account holders. Grande Vegas online games, Candy Crush and Farmville could be played in a comfortable social milieu for free. Interest in the opportunities that could be realized through social gaming led the company to create an app that allows players to collaborate, exchange ideas, comment, live stream, create a brand, monetize and otherwise become more actively engaged in community gaming entertainment.
Facebook gaming was created for gamers and their fans who want to enjoy a more expansive gaming experience by taking advantage of the platform’s ability to promote online social media engagement. Since April 2020 when it was introduced, Facebook Gaming has shot to a place as one of the most popular streaming platforms – only YouTube and Twitch have more users.
Facebook gaming was built for players who want to grow their reach and showcase their gaming skills. It’s not as competitive as other platforms so it’s a good place for beginners who are ready to start building their following and getting their name out there.
Overview
Facebook is basically a game streaming platform. Like YouTube Gaming and Twitch it gives you the tools to create and follow gaming content. To access Facebook Gaming you simply go to FB.gg via your personal facebook account and open the app to get access to all the tools and features that will allow you to build your own gaming brand.
It offers gamers a hub where they can aggregate all of their pre-recorded and live gaming videos and then display them in one single location. A simple search gives viewers the chance to find all of their favorite games’ videos, listed chronologically from last backward.
The platform gives anyone the ability to live stream games via the Facebook live tool. In the same way that you can live stream a video of yourself speaking or an event on your FB profile page, you can promote yourself competing. That then gives viewers the chance to explore gaming content that’s tailored to their interest. The Facebook Gaming app features an “Instant Games” tab that makes it easy to switch back and forth from watching to playing games.
In addition to playing games you can create tournaments to challenge other gamers or join other gamers’ tournaments. The platform gives you tools to schedule the games in advance so you know exactly the date and time at which the tournament will take place. The left toolbar features a “tournaments” option which you can open to register for another tournament, view a tournament or create your own tournament.
If you’re not quite ready for DOTA 2 or League of Legends, you can enjoy casual gaming and compete with friends in a low-key, casual atmosphere with games like Uno, Ludo King, Carrom Club, and Friends.
Getting Started
Once you have a Facebook account, which you link to your personal email account, you’re ready to get going. Your Facebook account gives you access to the casual gaming events and the ability to view any of the live streaming events. There are no options to enter the Facebook Gaming app if you don’t have a Facebook profile but if you want to bypass the regular Facebook social media interactions, you can go straight to Facebook Gaming and play/watch/stream games there.
If you want to stream games, there’s a bit more preparation involved. You’ll need to obtain a capture card that is compatible with your PC and you’ll also need to open a Facebook Gaming Creator Page. Facebook prompts will help you with the creator studio which makes the process relatively easy and user friendly.
Go to Facebook Gaming and click “create” and then “Page.” Title your page and put it in the category of “Gaming Video Creator”. You can then acc an avatar and a cover image before publishing the page.
Once you have published your page you’ll have a number of features that will allow you to customize your page and organize the settings.
In the “Spotlight” block you have the option to feature up to five of your chosen videos, including non-Facebook videos. That’s something that you can’t do with Twitch. You can also link your page to various Facebook groups without going through Discord servers.
To set up a direct stream, you’ll need your PC — to stream from your gaming console, you’ll need a capture card and a HDMI port. There’s also an option to stream through the Facebook mobile platform on your mobile device.
Install broadcast software such as OBS, XSplit or Streamlabs on your PC and follow the prompts. With Streamlabs you can simply sign in with your Facebook account and the software will automatically connect you to your account while with OBS going live will require a stream key which will change each time you go live. It will be worth your while to get a static key, which you can do via FB by clicking on the “Use a Persistent Stream Key” option.
Following Streamers
If you want to use your Facebook Gaming app to follow other streamers, you can either pick up a streaming game that’s featured on the Gaming Page or find a preferred gamer. To follow a specific gamer, go to “Browse Streamers,” choose the streamer that you want to follow and click “Follow.” Once you click on that streamer’s profile you can view past streams and stay updated about upcoming streamers.
You can also find new streamers by checking out the games that are being played. Once you find games that you like to view you can identify the streamers who specialize in those types of games. Click “Browse Games,” find your preferred game, click “Follow” and then check out the streamers who are streaming those games. You can also see which of your friends on FB are following the same game.
Facebook Gaming is quickly becoming the go-to platform where game lovers can follow other gamers and showcase their own gaming skills. The fact that it’s built into the main Facebook platform makes it’s easy to access and integrate into your other FB activities.