Beam for Microsoft

The team at Xbox announces that Microsoft has signed an agreement to acquire Bean Interactive, a livestreaming service that competes with Twitch and YouTube Gaming. Based in Seattle, Beam is a six-months old startup that has evolved game streaming from a passive, watch-and-chat experience into one with real-time participation by the viewer; directly into a streamer’s game play and live broadcast. By acquiring it, Microsoft can make Xbox Live more social and fun for users. "Using 'Minecraft' as one example, with Beam you don't just watch your favorite streamer play, you play along with them. You can give them new challenges and make real-time choices that affect their gameplay, from tool selection to quests to movement; all through simple visual controls," said Microsoft in its blog post. Beam's advantage is its super low-latency videos, allowing users to interact with streamers in a more real-time environment. Usually, real-time is more like 10 seconds delay. Beam can achieve less than this.