Facebook introduces game app for viewing and creating live streams

Facebook will release a mobile app focused on gaming on Monday. The app is mainly focused on watching and creating live gameplay, but users also have the option to play some casual games.

The social network planned to release the Facebook Gaming app in June, but because many users are now at home, it has been decided to bring the release forward to Monday, April 20, writes The New York Times. The Android version will appear anyway, but the release of the iOS version would still be subject to approval from Apple. That company has restrictions on streaming images from third-party apps.

The Facebook Gaming app allows users to watch streams of mobile games and also allows players to live stream their games themselves through their Facebook page. This puts Facebook in competition with existing game streaming platforms, such as Amazon’s Twitch, Google’s YouTube and Microsoft’s Mixer. In addition to the streaming functionality, there are some casual games and some community features in the app.