Beam is one of the many new streaming platform that aims to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Twitch and Youtube Gaming. Bought by Microsoft last year, the service has seen close integration with the Xbox One and Windows 10 (specifically after the Creator’s Update).
Today, Microsoft has decided to rebrand the service from Beam to Mixer. On the name change, Mixer co-founders Matt Salsamendi explained that it is a team effort, and to help the platform “grow to every major market in the world”.
“We chose Mixer as our new name because it represents what we love most about the service….how it brings people together,” as quoted from the blog post here.
Aside from the name change, more new features have been added. One of them is the ability to co-stream. Four different streamers can opt to share the same broadcast so there will be just one place with all the four perspectives displayed. Great for co-op multiplayer games and collaboration streams.
A new app called the Mixer Create is also launched for iOS and Android which allows streamers to stream via their mobile devices. The ability to stream mobile games is still in the works, so for now it serves as a real life stream app ala Persicope. The core feature of Beam that is shorter latency of streams remains intact.
The Mixer community is still small and brewing, and to facilitate that Microsoft is launching Channel One, a moderated channel that helps give some spotlight to the community, including events and esports, as well as highlighting game releases.
Microsoft is certainly pushing its efforts on the gaming ecosystem this year. While their game lineup, particular exclusives, pale in comparison to what Sony is offering on the PS4, Microsoft is hedging their bets with features that enhances the ecosystem like what we’ve seen in Xbox 360 backwards compatibility, Xbox Play Anywhere, the upcoming Xbox Game Pass and now the push for Mixer.
Microsoft still has one more trick up its sleeves, which is the Scorpio, set to be revealed this coming E3.