Fb.gg is Facebook’s game streaming hub for stealing Fortnite streamers away from Twitch

Facebook has just launched a new Android app on Google Play Store. The social media giant has packed its gaming hub inside the new app to cater to the users who primarily use Facebook for gaming and don’t have any use of the main Facebook app. The new app is crafted around Fb.gg, a new game streaming platform that Facebook launched back in June to compete with other streaming services including Twitch. The company is aiming to attract both the game streamers as well as gamers who would be interesting in watching the streams on their Android-powered smartphones.

Back in January, Facebook launched its own version of Twitch’s Partner Program with its own “gaming creator pilot program,” which is designed to lure streamers away from Twitch and YouTube’s more popular gaming hubs with tipping-style monetization options and at lest the promise of bigger reach. Of course, Twitch remains the leader in this space when it comes to live streaming, and YouTube the leader for pre-recorded video. Facebook wants to be a destination for both.

A separate app would make things better for both the game streamers as well as regular gamers as they will no longer be distracted by other content that regular Facebook users would share on their feeds. According to the report by Android Police, the platform recommends ongoing game live streams to users based on who they are following and what pages they have liked on Facebook. This platform also allows Facebook users to support their favorite game streamers with the help of “Facebook Stars”.

But, like YouTube, Facebook is mainly gunning for Twitch’s live audience. That’s primarily because the built-in audience for live, gaming-centric content is massive and skews younger, and younger audiences are more valuable to advertisers. Also, there is inherent value to real-time audience reach and the knowledge that viewers are collectively experiencing the same thing at the same time. It’s Twitch’s live platform that helps it — alongside the predominantly gaming-focused content it features — rival live television and sports.


Right now, Fb.gg seems to be comprised mostly of live streams of the massively popular battle royale game Fortnite. That makes sense; Fortnite is one of the most popular games in the world now, and it’s led Twitch’s most-viewed leaderboard for months. On Fb.gg, about 3,000 people are actively streaming Fortnite, but the active audience numbers for each stream appear to pale in comparison to those on Twitch.

The report pointed out that the company posted this app a couple of weeks back in Google Play Store but it is currently locked to the Philippines. This means that the company is currently testing the app and its features in a limited setting before rolling it out to the global market. According to the description of the app, it is aimed to connect the gaming community.