Xbox snaps up interactive streaming tech, name drops Minecraft, Sea of Thieves

However acquisition terms were not disclosed.

In addition to its Xbox integration, Beam will continue to support non-Microsoft games and devices.

Players, who interact through Beam, can actually help direct the streamer’s gameplay; an example can be selecting the weapon the gamer may use in multiplayer battles.

While a lot of other streaming services only focus on viewing, Beam provides low latency interactivity and has “sub-second stream delay'”.

San Francisco: Microsoft on Thursday said it is bolstering its Xbox arsenal with the purchase of a startup specializing in letting people join in the fun while watching live-streamed game play.

According to a post on August 10 by Beam CEO Matt Salsamendi, Beam will become part of the Xbox team. It sounds interesting though how it will ultimately be implemented remains to be seen.

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Instead of passively watching livestreams, Xbox gamers may one day be able to jump right into the action, thanks to Microsoft’s acquisition of Beam Interactive.

Beam adds active elements to the normally passive pastime of tuning in to watch streamers play games over services such as YouTube and Twitch.

What are your thoughts on Microsoft acquiring Beam?

I’ll continue to lead the Beam team in Redmond, now as part of Team Xbox within the Engineering group. Beam now has apps available for iOS and Android and it can also be accessed on the web via most browsers. But the company points to Minecraft, now a Microsoft property, as the type of game well-suited to Beam’s technology. “We’re expanding the team, bolstering our infrastructure, and, most importantly, continuing to grow the awesome community we’ve been lucky enough to build at Beam”.