Digitizing Product Application: Facebook Gaming app failed

Facebook Gaming, the game streaming platform actively promoted by Meta, will no longer be available on the Android and iOS app stores from October 28.

"We'd like to thank everyone for building a thriving gaming community, both players and fans, since day one of the app. It's a community effort to bring content. upload games to Facebook", Meta announced on the Facebook Gaming update on August 30.

Logo and interface of the Facebook Gaming application - the platform will close at the end of October. Photo: Meta

According to Meta, from the end of October, the application will no longer be available on the App Store and Google Play. OTA Network, the official partner of Facebook Gaming in Vietnam, said that this decision is an inevitable result because the Facebook Gaming application has an unexpected number of users. Most users spend time watching livestream right on social networking platforms instead of downloading separate apps.

"Meta just stopped releasing the app, and the Facebook Gaming program continues to be developed. For game-related content, users can still access it normally via the Gaming tab on the Facebook app," the representative said. OTA Network said.

The Facebook Gaming community is still active in Vietnam with more than 1,000 streamers participating. In the second half of this year, the platform is also expected to organize a number of activities exclusively for streamers in Vietnam.

Meta announced the Facebook Gaming app at the end of 2019 with the ambition to attract game lovers. The company invests billions of dollars in the platform, such as signing exclusive contracts with many famous content creators. The app was also once considered a potential threat to Twitch - the platform that dominates the game livestream segment today.

However, after its birth, Facebook Gaming struggled to gain a foothold in the market. According to data from market research firm Streamlabs in the second quarter of 2022, Facebook Gaming accounted for only 7.9% of the market share in terms of hours watched, far behind competitors like Twitch and YouTube with a market share of 76.7, respectively. % and 15.4%.

Meta isn't the first major company to fail when trying to break into the game-streaming market. In 2020, Microsoft also closed a similar platform called Mixer despite spending tens of millions of dollars on celebrity livestreams.

YouTube Gaming, a division of YouTube, is the only name judged to threaten Twitch's competitive position. Recently, the company has attracted some top talent from the competition, such as Ludwig Ahgren, Rachell Hofstetter and Timothy Betar.

After discontinuing the Facebook Gaming app, Meta said it will focus more on VR devices and metaverse -related content . Last year, the company changed its name from Facebook to Meta, as well as pouring billions of dollars into realizing its virtual universe ambitions.

Streamer profession and the price of fame 13
The pressure of the streamer profession 153
Livestream becoming a career on Facebook