X (formerly Twitter) is currently testing its livestreaming capabilities. Owner and CTO Elon Musk did a quick livestream test last Sunday under X username @cyb3rgam3r420. Musk played “Diablo IV” for almost an hour during the stream.
Setting the foundation
According to X engineer Mark Kalman, Premium subscribers can set up livestreaming on their accounts by connecting Open Broadcaster Software via X Media Studio. In the video he posted on the platform, Kalman also shows how to turn on the chats on the broadcast. This feature is obviously still in its early stages, as seen in some user’s issues with chats. Additionally, you also can’t change the video quality of the stream.
This game streaming feature looks like a follow-up on Musk’s promise that he’s going to turn the platform into an “everything app.” Given the replies on his recent stream, it seems like most of the users are stoked to know that the platform is going to support livestreaming.
The question is: How would X compensate its creators should it fully introduce the feature? Currently, X has an ad revenue-sharing program that compensates Blue subscribers with at least 15 million impressions on their posts.
Is X looking to compete with Twitch?
Livestreaming on X could prove to be a viable alternative to Twitch and other streaming platforms. Twitch has been receiving a lot of backlash due to its lack of creator-focus policies, so it would be interesting to see how X would address that in its own platform. However, there were multiple instances where Musk’s streams crashed in the past, so the company’s infrastructure clearly still needs some work. Let’s see what Elon and the X team comes up with.