We all are aware about the popularities of esports streaming. Top players stream on these platforms and fans enjoy their gameplay. There are many platforms available where players can stream their game. So today in this article we will know about the top gaming platforms and how to stream on these platforms.

Top Gaming Platforms –

TWITCH –

Twitch is a video live streaming service operated by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon. Introduced in June 2011 as a spin-off of the general-interest streaming platform Justin.tv, the site primarily focuses on video game live streaming, including broadcasts of esports competitions, in addition to music broadcasts, creative content, and more recently, “in real life” streams. Content on the site can be viewed either live or via video on demand.

The popularity of Twitch eclipsed that of its general-interest counterpart. In October 2013, the website had 45 million unique viewers, and by February 2014, it was considered the fourth largest source of peak Internet traffic in the United States. At the same time, Justin.tv’s parent company was re-branded as Twitch Interactive to represent the shift in focus – Justin.tv was shut down in August 2014. 

That month, the service was acquired by Amazon for US$970 million,which later led to the introduction of synergies with the company’s subscription service Amazon Prime. Twitch later acquired Curse, an operator of online video gaming communities and introduced means to purchase games through links on streams along with a program allowing streamers to receive commissions on the sales of games that they play.

By 2015, Twitch had more than 1.5 million broadcasters and 100 million viewers per month. As of 2017, Twitch remained the leading live streaming video service for video games in the US, and had an advantage over YouTube Gaming. As of May 2018, it had 2.2 million broadcasters monthly and 15 million daily active users, with around a million average concurrent users^. As of May 2018, Twitch had over 27,000 partner channels.

Twitch features a large number of emoticons called “emotes”. There are emotes free for all users, emotes for Turbo users, emotes for Twitch Prime users, and emotes for users who are subscribed to Twitch partners or affiliates. As of October 2015, Kappa was the most used emote on Twitch. Twitch partnered broadcasters unlock more “emote slots” as they gain more subscribers up to a maximum of 50 emotes per channel.

HOW TO STREAM ON TWITCH –

Twitch Account – 

This is obvious, but you will need an account on Twitch to get started. Follow and friend everyone you know IRL. This will be helpful later on.

OBS

Open Broadcaster Software is very capable software to broadcast your stream to Twitch. I’ll walk you through the basics of what you need to know.

1. Download OBS and install. If you are using Windows, right click on OBS and ‘Run as Administrator’ so it automatically grants the software permissions to capture your games.
2. Open Settings and select ‘Stream’. Select Twitch as the ‘Service’.
3. Open Twitch in your browser and select ‘Dashboard’ from your menu in the upper right corner. Select ‘Settings’ from the left nav, then select ‘Stream Key’. Tap ‘Show Key’.
4. Paste the key in the OBS field called ‘Stream Key’.
5. Congrats, you can technically start streaming now!

Something to Stream

Maybe you want to stream games, maybe you want to stream yourself working or maybe you just want to stream yourself on camera. You need something to stream.

Games

It is likely that you are interested in streaming games. If it is not games you are interested in, most desktop applications can also be streamed using this same technique:

1. Go to the sources panel in OBS and press the + button. Choose ‘Game Capture’ and enter the name of the game or application you want to stream in the ‘Create New’ field.
2. Open the game or application and select ‘Capture Specific Window’. Press OK.
3. Choose your application in the Window drop-down. Press OK.

Youtube Gaming –

YouTube Gaming is an offshoot of YouTube that features both live and on-demand video game content. The new platform curates YouTube’s existing gaming videos, allowing you to more easily find your favorite Call of Duty highlight reel without accidentally stumbling onto a Beyoncé video.

YouTube Gaming looks considerably different than plain old YouTube, with an all-black interface that puts a stream of popular game-related videos front and center. As with standard YouTube, you can follow channels to stay on top of their content; unlike standard YouTube, you can also follow specific games to ensure you’ll never miss the latest League of Legends match or crazy Street Fighter comeback.

As of early 2016, YouTube Gaming’s interface has been streamlined considerably, nixing its crowded sidebars in favor of separate tabs for getting right to your favorite games and channels. There’s even a dedicated “Live” section that makes finding the biggest live broadcasts easier.

Where can I get it?

You can access YouTube Gaming on the web at gaming.youtube.com, or download the free app for iOS and Android. You can look forward to 60 frame-per-second video and YouTube’s live DVR function regardless of what platform you watch on. 

How do I stream to YouTube Gaming?

If you’re on a PC, you can stream to YouTube Gaming using broadcasting applications such as Open Broadcaster Software or XSplit. Fortunately, if you just love mobile games, Google recently rolled out the ability to stream directly to YouTube Gaming from your Android device. Once you open the YouTube Gaming app on Android and tap Go Live, you’ll be able to broadcast any Android game you like, complete with a webcam feed taken from your phone or tablet’s selfie cam.

You can also stream right to YouTube Gaming from your PlayStation 4, so long as you have the system’s latest 3.0 update. As of this writing, there’s still no way to stream directly to the service from Xbox One, which means you’ll have to rely on a PC and capture card for the time being.

HITBOX –

Hitbox was a live-streaming esports video game website launched in October 2013. It was a competitor to Twitch. It was acquired by Azubu, and then became Smashcast.

In November 2015 SeedInvest, along with Wargaming and North Base Media, funded Hitbox with investing $4,000,000 USD. CEO and co-founder Martin Klimscha was interviewed about Hitbox. He stated that their “goal at the moment is to build a superior live streaming platform”, therefore taking on Twitch. He also stated that they wanted to improve the game streaming service by reducing latency. He said that Hitbox was to be more than the “streamer and the chatbox”, and would “build interactivity into this live streaming experience.

^{On May 5, 2017, Hitbox shut down and their website was redirected to Smashcast, a new Live-stream service, which they claim is “spiced up with a new design & features and managed by a team consisting of Hitbox and Azubu staff”}

How to stream –

Please note that it is required to have a hitbox account to start live streaming to this service. Open http://www.hitbox.tv/ and sign up for a new account if you don’t have one.

Now, click Login with the hitbox button to show a new Login window. Login to your hitbox account.

use video size, frame rate and bitrate settings to setup your broadcast.

Live streaming with HD resolutions is recommended for PCs with Intel Quick Sync Video, AMD APP or NVIDIA NVENC acceleration for video encoding.

Please remember that you must adjust your settings to your internet connection upload speed. If you experience any performance problems please reduce video size and framerate and try again. Setup Action! recording mode to “Active screen” or “Games and Applications” to capture and live stream games. If you plan to live stream a game running in windowed mode, please use “Games and Applications” mode.

Run a game, Action! HUD will be displayed in the top right corner of your game screen, showing the game framerate in blue color. Action! is connected to your game and ready to start gameplay streaming to hitbox!

Now, press a hotkey (Ctrl+F9 hotkey) to start your gameplay streaming to hitbox. HUD displays the “LIVE” icon during gameplay streaming and the current number of your hitbox viewers.

Mirrativ –

Mobile gaming company DeNA has launched a live streaming app that lets users stream anything on their smartphones, from chats to apps and video. Mirrativ goes beyond popular video live streaming apps like Periscope and Meerkat, as well as console-oriented Twitch, because it can broadcast smartphone screen content instead of just live feeds from the camera or video games. 

A blend of the words “mirror” and “narrative,” Mirrativ will mirror the content of the broadcaster’s screen on those of followers. The broadcaster can receive feedback in real time in the form of stars, questions or comments. DeNA said the app can create a “shared experience” between the broadcaster and followers. For instance, gamers could use Mirrativ to share tips with followers, while shoppers could seek advice while searching for goods on e-commerce sites. 

The Face Camera feature shows a live view of the broadcaster’s face in a small box superimposed on the live stream screen view. That adds another layer of expression to interactions such as chat screens, which have mostly been text, emoticons and cartoonish stickers. 

• Just three taps and you’re live! Broadcasting to friends, family and anyone else you want to share with.
• Your “audience” can play a role in creating a unique live streaming experience, sending you stickers and comments in real-time.
• With the optional picture-in-picture Face Camera, your viewers can see your reactions at the same time that they are seeing your screen share. This feature can also be turned off.
• Share certain moments only with friends by choosing a private broadcast which can only be accessed via a unique URL.
• You can follow your favorite people and get notifications when they start broadcasting.

Mirrativ is available in beta on Google Play, with releases for iOS users still in development. While MIrrativ feeds can be viewed with Android 4.1 or higher, broadcasting requires Android 5.0 or above.

To download Mirrativ on your android click here.

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