Every fan wants to interact with their celebrity. When it comes to the (admittedly) geeky world of gaming, this holds especially true. Expert gamers are known for their large followings in gaming, as hundreds or even thousands of fans live stream their games. But as their fan base grows, interaction (through live chat and other similar interactions) becomes harder, and disillusioned fans leave gamers’ fan bases.
Enter Matt Salsamendi, an 19 year old CEO of Beam, a company which provides the interaction fans need with their gamer celebrities. Now fans can provide warnings, obstacles, and items to the gamer as they play, provide relevant, fun interaction with the gamer as they play.
Matt is really excited about the community that Beam helps to create. “Our platform is fundamentally social, and we’ve put substantial focus into creating a vibrant and connected community” Salsamendi said.
Beam was purchased by Microsoft in August of last year to integrate more effectively into the XBox gaming system. Salsamendi appeared excited for the change and is looking forward to seeing Beam grow.
Sources:
http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/12/technology/microsoft-buys-beam/index.html
https://www.geekwire.com/2016/beam/
I think this is a really cool idea that improves an existing product so much. It’s a really cool example of how he didn’t invent a new product per say, but he found to rethink a product in a very unique way.
I have a friend who uses Beam all the time! He loves how he gets to be a part of the game instead of just watching a play-through. This platform has given popular gamers a way to interact with fans, but also to generate new fans because of how personal this is. Love it!
It’s a very interesting idea given the nature of Streaming gaming and how much of a community get built up among these streamers. Giving an opportunity for fans/followers to interact more gives them more enjoyment and is also valuable to the Streamer because they can build up a brand loyalty.