Facebook launches gaming app to take on YouTube and Twitch

Release rumoured to have been hurried up for players in lockdown

This illustration picture, taken on January 12, 2020 shows Facebook social network logo reflected on a eye in Rennes, western France (AFP via Getty)

Facebook has launched a special app for watching and streaming games.

The new platform called Facebook Gaming is available now and is intended to take on rivals such as Twitch, YouTube and Microsoft's Mixer.

It offers similar features to those competitors – such live streams of players and their games – alongside special Facebook ones, including app-based games that have previously been available within the main app and Messenger.

It also allows players to share their videos with their friends and family on Facebook.

The Facebook Gaming app is available now for Android, and it is working on an iPhone version.

The release is thought to have been hurried up to ensure that players could get online during lockdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Our global streamer community has demanded a standalone Facebook Gaming app for a while, so we're excited to finally launch it on Google Play," Vivek Sharma, vice president of Facebook Gaming, said.

"We are building homes for the many types of gaming communities on and off Facebook.

"The Facebook Gaming app is a prime example of gaming's resurgence at Facebook over the last few years, and we're just getting started."

The app has been in testing since at least 2018, and a full release has been rumoured for some time.