Owner Microsoft Commercial Yes | Website www.beam.pro Registration Optional | |
Type of site Streaming video service Launched January 5, 2016; 13 months ago (2016-01-05) | ||
Beam is a Seattle-based live streaming video platform owned by Microsoft. The service officially launched on January 5, 2016.
Similarly to competing services, Beam focuses on video gaming, including playthroughs of video games, but is primarily distinguished by features designed to allow viewers to interact with streams. Using an SDK, features can be integrated into games to allow users to affect gameplay or vote on elements using buttons displayed alongside the stream. Users earn "Beam XP" for watching and participating in streams, which can then be spent to activate these features. Due to its HTML5 video architecture, Beam also advertises an average latency of 200 milliseconds reduction in delay between the original broadcast and when it is received by viewers is meant to improve the real-time nature of these interactivity features.
On August 11, 2016, Beam was acquired by Microsoft for an undisclosed amount. The service's team was integrated into the Xbox division. On October 26, 2016, Microsoft announced that Beam would be integrated into Windows 10.