Credit: Facebook

Facebook wants a piece of Twitch and YouTube’s pie.

In the midst of pandemic isolation, one hobby that has absolutely exploded in popularity is gaming. From online competitive shooters like Fortnite to single-player simulators like Animal Crossing, gaming is providing a valuable source of both entertainment and social interaction for many people around the world stuck at home. Rising concurrently with the interest in gaming is the popularity of game streamers, who use platforms like Twitch and YouTube to stream their gameplay to a live audience. With game streaming at peak popularity, Facebook has decided it is time to strike with a streaming platform of its own.

In a report published by the New York Times, Facebook announced that it would shortly be launching Facebook Gaming, a livestreaming platform with an emphasis on gameplay livestreams. As opposed to the likes of Twitch and YouTube, Facebook Gaming will be its own app, entirely independent of the regular Facebook mobile app. The social media company hopes that they can make a name for themselves by being a mobile-only experience, versus a desktop application running in the background while a user does other things.

Credit: Facebook

“We don’t want to be the background window in a Chrome tab while someone is doing their homework or doing something else,” Facebook’s vice president of gaming, Vivek Sharma said. “With mobile, if you have the app open and you’re using the app, it’s in the foreground. You can’t do anything else on your mobile phone, and that is extremely powerful.”

Facebook has forayed into gaming before, acting as a linchpin of the casual gaming boom of the late 2000s with games like FarmVille, but this will be their first major journey into the mainstream gaming eye.

“Investing in gaming in general has become a priority for us because we see gaming as a form of entertainment that really connects people,” said Facebook app head Fidji Simo. “It’s entertainment that’s not just a form of passive consumption but entertainment that is interactive and brings people together.”