Blizzard lets players livestream its games on Facebook

MANILA, Philippines – Fans of Blizzard’s repertoire of games that have updated their Battle.net client are in for a video-streaming enhanced treat ahead of the August 30 launch of the World of Warcraft: Legion expansion.

Blizzard launched on Friday, August 26 (US time) a new feature that will allow players to stream their games live directly to their Facebook timelines or to public pages a user manages. 

The new function, called Blizzard Streaming, works directly through the Battle.net client. The live stream function is user-friendly and can be easily set up by clicking the camera icon on the upper-right corner of the client. From there, gamers can input the title of their live stream as well as determine who can watch their game live stream.

Blizzard Streaming will also allow players to enable their webcams and microphones so they can interact with their friends and audiences as they livestream. Blizzard Streaming can be used for all of Blizzard’s games, such as World of Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm, and Overwatch.

The launch is well-timed, with players reportedly coming onto Battle.net not only to play Overwatch, but also in anticipation of the latest World of Warcraft expansion pack. World of Warcraft: Legion is set to unlock in the Philippines at around 3:00 pm of August 30.

Blizzard Streaming is currently available in the Americas, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand regions for their games but the function will be accessible worldwide soon. The function is also only available for Windows PC users, but Blizzard is currently working on adapting the new feature for those who prefer playing on their Macs.

The new feature launched two months after Blizzard’s initial announcement of collaborating with Facebook.

“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, executive vice president of corporate operations at Blizzard Entertainment.

Divided attention

Not everyone is too keen to live stream on Facebook, however,

A quick run through the comments section of Blizzard’s introduction of Blizzard Streaming shows vocal users who are unhappy that the convenient function is only applicable on Facebook accounts and not on Twitch or YouTube accounts.

Some of the top comments in the video also ask why Blizzard didn’t just choose to make it easier for players to live stream on Twitch or YouTube since many gamers get their gaming video content from the two websites.

Will you be using Blizzard Streaming for your live streams? Let us know in the comments. In the meantime, you can also check out their Blizzard Streaming FAQ for additional information.  – with reports from Victor Barreiro Jr./Rappler.com