It’s no secret that X (formerly known as Twitter) has been trying to diversify its income streams. Why double down on X Premium, after all? But as Elon Musk continues to drive X straight into the ground, there is one interesting development for the gamers out there. It seems X is trying to break into gaming streams, with features already available now to support streaming straight to the X platform, live.
Yes, that’s right. Twitch-style streams may soon be a mainstay across X.
Twitch-style video game streams on X? How?
During September 2023, X media engineering lead Mark Kalman started cooking up something interesting: Improved livestreaming functionality. Kalman brought the news to the world on Sept. 22, when he livestreamed himself from his phone while testing out improvements to the way X handles its livestreaming stack. This came shortly after X tweeted in late August that it would bring the site’s media studio function to X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue) users.
The media studio isn’t a new creation. Back before Musk purchased Twitter, the Twitter media studio was a professional toolkit designed for organizations and media entities to share information with Twitter users. It was never available for public use, and likely was never intended for your average user to begin with. It’s a powerful and slightly confusing beast.
Under Elon Musk, all that changed. I mean, X media studio is still confusing. But it’s also now semi-public. That’s right, the X media studio has since become one big premium feature that allows for pay-to-play content creation. And it seems like Musk is trying to use the media studio to pry $8 out of people who want to bring their streams straight to X, bypassing Twitch or Kick.
This became clear to the wider X userbase on Sept. 30, when Musk shared a tutorial by Kalman with step-by-step instructions on “how to game stream” via the X media studio. Then, early Oct. 2, Elon hopped onto Diablo 4 and invited X users to kill him in the game’s PvP mode. Musk played the game live on X for 52 minutes, showing off the feature’s potential for a smooth, consistent bitrate.
The official X account went on to advertise the feature, implying X is more or less perfectly suited for gamers.
If you want to catch Musk’s stream for yourself, feel free to watch it down below. It’s not the most exciting VOD in the world, but hey, it does demonstrate that X’s streaming feature works for gamers.
So yes, it’s completely true: If you give Elon Musk $8, you can livestream on X right now. It’s not quite as advanced as Twitch when it comes to chat features and interaction abilities (the latter doesn’t even exist so far). But hey, it works. Check out my Valorant stream if you want proof for yourself.
There’s some real potential here, given the media studio function works with any streaming program. And because it isn’t tied to one specific genre of content, the media studio opens the door to a wide range of future streaming options. Could we see more HasanAbi-style talking heads on X soon? Perhaps. There’s always the possibility that this could pave the way for camming content on X, too—that is, if the social media platform is actually ready to support sex workers with its features and content.
(featured image: Charley Gallay/Getty Images)
