Stuck at home due to the Coronavirus outbreak, people around the world are consuming more content than ever. Video streaming services and e-learning has picked up the pace and social media is being used more than ever. Facebook has just given another way to people to enjoy and connect with friends/family while they are under lockdown. It has rolled out Tournaments, a feature of its Gaming platform that allows users to put together a gaming competition. The feature is open for anyone to use, and users can organise tournaments from the ‘Create tournament event’ option in Facebook Gaming.
In a string of tweets, Facebook said that streamers can also use the feature to host charity events, as their live streaming tools now include support for that. So in this way, you can raise funds to help others while gaming with your pals. Facebook Tournaments was reportedly unveiled to help the company set up an esports platform, but given the current situation, Facebook has allowed early access.
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— Facebook Gaming #playaparttogether (@FacebookGaming) April 7, 2020
1/ Social distancing means we have to be apart, but games can still bring us together. So today we’re opening early access to Facebook Gaming tournaments, a feature to help people stay connected through games. pic.twitter.com/rYOIXBcIHS
‘Our mission for Facebook gaming is to build the world’s gaming community and organized gameplay has always been a big part of gaming, regardless of levels of competition… Whether it’s someone getting together with family and friends or whether it’s a creator of a tournament for viewers or supporters, or whether it’s an esports organisation, this is a big part of gaming,’ VentureBeat quoted Mina Abouseif, the Engineer behind Tournaments, as saying.
The gaming platform also promotes Facebook’s efforts as part of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Play Apart Together campaign that encourages people to continue their social interaction via gaming. Facebook has aligned itself with the WHO and is working to promote social distancing. It has also launched several helpline numbers on WhatsApp, is making people aware of the Coronavirus pandemic on the Facebook app, and fighting misinformation being spread on the platform.
