This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Digital Media Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.Facebookannouncedthat it's currently developing a PC gaming platform in partnership with Unity Technologies, the maker of the popular game development framework (game engine) Unity.The new gaming platform will likely expand expand upon the three-month oldFacebook Games Arcade,as noted byTechCrunch. In the long run, this gaming platform could end up being a center piece in Facebook's plan to establish itself as a key player in the video gaming industry.Unityis used to create all kinds of game experiences on desktop and mobile operating systems, including games in 2D, 3D, VR and AR for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and, now, Facebook. Integrating Unity facilitates the process for third party developers to publish games onto Facebook, whereas before developers had to work with Facebook's more complex and idiosyncratic gaming software development kit (SDK).Meanwhile, game developers will be doubly enticed to reach and earn money off some of the 650 million users who play Facebook-connected games every month. In 2015, Facebook paid $2.5 billion to game developers on its platform.Facebook wants to establish itself as an eminent platform for developing, buying and playing games. The company basically wants to encourage the next Pokmon Go or League of Legends to originate on its own platform. If Facebook succeeds in building out its gaming platform as a substantive hub for developing, buying, and playing games, then it will be able to tackle the video gaming space simultaneously on three crucial fronts:Game play and sales. Facebooks new platform is being likened to Steam, the leading desktop gaming marketplace owned by Valve with over 125 million accounts and 4500 games. Facebook is also tackling the iOS and Android in the mobile gaming space, and will hope to lure game developers and gamers away from these rival platforms. In the long-run, Facebook is likely aiming to compete against game consoles like Sonys PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox too. Basically, Facebook is competing against any platform offering environments to play and sell video games.Hardware sales (VR). Gaming will be the gateway driving early adoption for virtual reality (VR) technologies, and having a strong gaming platform is crucial as these two spaces enmesh. Facebook's gaming platform plays directly into this, given that Unity is already a partner for developing games for the Oculus headset. It is Facebooks ambitions to dominate the VR hardware market will drive it in ever closer competition with traditional game manufacturers, like Sony, who have begun to offer consoles, games, and VR headsets as a single bundle.ESports coverage. In May, Facebook and the gaming company Activision agreed to deliver live broadcasts of Activisions eSports tournaments on Facebook. This was followed up with a partnership with Activision subsidiary Blizzard in June to let regular gamers stream directly through Facebook Live. Being active in eSports will help Facebook collect revenue in broadcast distribution, sponsorship, and advertising. Altogether, eSports revenue is expected to reach $463 million, a 43% increase from 2015, and surpass $1 billion in revenue by 2019.To receive stories like this one directly to your inbox every morning, sign up for the Digital Media Briefing newsletter.Click here to learn more about how you can gain risk-free access today.Join the conversation about this story
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