Live streaming is going far beyond video calls
Live streaming has taken off as one of the most popular ways to share content among celebrities and influencers on social media. It is not uncommon to see live streams from musicians and artists get hundreds of thousands of viewers, while in a more commonly-used way, they have also become one of the staples of communication through video calls. Video calling has also become quite popular this year, mainly due to the pandemic which forced most people to stay indoors and thus resort to this technological hack to see their friends and family. However, it is interesting to see that the technology itself has gone far beyond just video calls, and there are many other ways in which it is being used today.
Live streaming has begun to be used quite heavily in other online sectors, with gaming being a prime example. Within that, it is especially of relevance in online gambling. Again, this is largely the impact of the pandemic. With physical gambling locations and casinos having had to close to comply with lockdown restrictions, online gambling emerged as a very popular option for those looking to enjoy gambling from the comfort of their homes. This was the case with live streaming and video calling as well, and so it was only a matter of time before the two were integrated. Many online casinos began offering live roulette, live poker and other live table games through live streams, where players could interact and play with a live dealer, to recreate the casino floor environment to some extent. This has proved to be quite popular, and is just one way in which live streaming technology is being adopted by other industries.
Of course, in terms of live streaming, it is Twitch that is the predominant player in the market. It is now a fundamental part of gaming, with millions of views per day on various gaming live streams. The evolution and popularity of Twitch has also made live streaming video games a career, with the biggest Twitch streamers earning big bucks for their efforts as well. Another way in which live streaming is evolving is by involving the viewers in the stream itself. At present, you are just a viewer on a live stream of a game, but now Google is working on including viewers into streams themselves.
Google’s Stadia cloud gaming service announced a Crowd Play feature as part of its launch, which would potentially allow viewers of a live stream to dive in and join that streamer in playing the game together. This would be possible since Stadia allows users to play games on the cloud, so they would, in theory, be able to join and stream the game that they were viewing, provided that it is available to play on Stadia, of course. This is an exciting development, as it will allow viewers to be able to participate and play with their favourite streamers, rather than just watching along and commenting. It can open up more revenue options for streamers as well – they can potentially set an entry fee for such streams, or a one-time fee to be paid if anyone wants to play the game with them. Nevertheless, it is exciting to see how a simple live video calling and streaming technology is now on the brink of being used as an interactive medium for fans to connect with their favourite online streamers.
The gaming space is the best one to see the progress and possibilities of live streaming, and it will be interesting to see how this develops over the next couple of years.
R&M’s Tailored Cable Manufacturing Expertise is What All Projects Need
