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Facebook Gaming is adding monetization tools for creators who focus on video on demand.
Facbook said that gaming creators continue to build meaningful communities and earn meaningful revenue on Facebook Gaming. Whether pursuing a full-fledged career, a side hustle, or making content just for fun, Facebook Gaming is creating monetization tools so that creators can thrive on the platform.
This means that Facebook Gaming is going after YouTube’s creators.
Stars for gaming videos on demand (VoD)
The platform is taking steps to support pre-recorded and edited gaming videos (called video on demand, or VoD). They’re starting with monetization and testing the ability for people to support their favorite creators by sending “Stars” while watching VoD content. This is a new way for viewers to show love outside of livestreaming.
With VOD, the creator can set a Stars goal for videos in a creator dashboard and track it in real time against Stars received from viewers. For Stars-eligible VOD content, a Stars ticker will display messages that contain Stars, and animations will play when Stars are sent. To help deepen the connection between creators and their fans, Facebook has added tools for creators to respond individually, or in batches, to Star senders.
Fans can purchase Stars to give to creators. Stars for VoD is currently pilot testing with a small group of creators, with hopes to roll out more broadly to gaming creators soon.
In a post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “We want to build the best platform for millions of creators to make a living. That includes game streamers and gaming creators, and today we’re starting to test some new tools to help them make a living. Stars for gaming videos on-demand give fans a new way to support creators while watching gaming videos, and Live Breaks allows creators to take a break from live-streaming while earning money and keeping viewers entertained. Hopefully these tools and more will help more people do creative work they enjoy.”
Live Breaks during livestreams
Facebook Gaming is also testing new tools for live creators to earn money while engaging with their communities. Live Breaks, a new form of mid-roll ads for partner gaming creators. Live Breaks are manually-triggered 30-, 90-, or 150-second midroll ad breaks that incorporate a mixture of standard mid-roll video ads and creator-generated or viewer-generated content, such as highlights and clips of amazing plays or curated calls to action for viewers.
Calls to action could include anything from videos to educate an audience about Stars and Fan Subs, or calls to join a Facebook Group. Live Breaks are available to a limited number of partner gaming creators and will roll out more broadly following this initial test phase.
The Level Up program
Level Up is the first stop on the career path as a Facebook Gaming creator, and provides creators with initial tools to jumpstart their communities and begin earning from their content. To help make livestreaming accessible to as many people as possible, Facebook Gaming is expanding Level Up to the following regions: Hong Kong, Kenya, Nigeria, Norway, Paraguay, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Ukraine, and Venezuela.
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