Facebook logins and livestreaming are coming to Blizzard games
You'll soon be able to log in to Overwatch and other Blizzard games with your Facebook account, and stream gameplay sessions to your timeline.
Blizzard and Facebook have announced a new partnership that will bring Facebook logins to Overwatch, Hearthstone, and other Blizzard games, and livestreams of those games to Facebook timelines.
Beginning later this month, gamers will have the option of logging into World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, StarCraft 2, Diablo 3, and Overwatch with their Facebook accounts. The studio said the new login option will “pave the way for new social functionality in Blizzard games,” including a new streaming option called “Go Live,” which will give players the ability to livestream their gaming sessions directly to their Facebook timelines.
“Blizzard games are best when played with friends, so it’s important to us to provide our players with features and services that make it easy and fun to share their experiences with each other,” Blizzard EVP of Corporate Operations Gio Hunt said in a statement. “We’re working closely with Facebook on this integration for Overwatch, as well as our other games.”
This is actually kind of a big thing. I'm not sure how much fun it will be watching Facebook friends grinding WoW, but it does have some interesting potential for sharing Overwatch plays of the game, for instance (at least on those occasions when you do something properly PotG-worthy), or, if you're a die-hard Hearthstoner, for showing off ridiculous, meme-worthy topdecks.
A solid launch date hasn't been announced, but we'll no doubt be hearing more about it very soon.
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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.
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