TikTok confirms that it will compete with Twitch; tests of its own streaming app begin

Diverse market. Without a doubt, the video game industry has been among the most profitable industries in recent years, and it is no coincidence that many technology companies seek to expand into this field. Netflix, Google, and even Amazon are looking for new niches to take advantage of the gaming bonanza, and now it has just been confirmed that TikTok is also behind this goal with an opponent already in mind: Twitch and its streaming platform.

ByteDance, creators of the popular short video app TikTok, recently confirmed that it is working on a new desktop app called TikTok Live Studio.

Testing of this new tool began just a few hours ago and it is available to a very small number of users worldwide. The truth is that, according to the company itself, this application is designed exclusively to challenge Twitch.

The motivation behind this initiative could not be clearer. TikTok has become very popular over the years and its adoption by the community has been very diverse: artists, content creators, cooks, brands, etc. Everyone has something to share in the form of little clips.

Now, with TikTok Live Studio, what they are looking for in ByteDance is to enter the wide market of live broadcasts, where there are already a few success stories (Twitch, YouTube Gaming), as well as failure (the defunct Microsoft Mixer).

The software that has been made available to a limited number of people already allows logging in with the same TikTok account and doing live broadcasts (called TikTok Live). In addition, it offers landscape and portrait formats, supports mobile screen captures, and even allows the public to share emojis and gifts.

Of course, these features are very basic compared to other platforms like Twitch, but there is no doubt that ByteDance are taking light steps to improve their service over time. For now, TikTok Live Studio allows a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) at 60 frames per second (fps) and its desktop version bears similarities to the popular OBS studio application, used by thousands of content creators worldwide.

From ByteDance they have indicated that the future of the application is uncertain, so it is not yet known if an official version will arrive at some point. Everything will depend on how its development evolves.