Not long ago, if you wanted to stream from your console, you’d need serious technical skills or else you’d be out of luck. From finding and buying the right capture card to learning new streaming software on your PC, there were several steps that you had to take before you could get your gameplay from your TV to the internet. Thankfully for console gamers, Xbox has made streaming much easier by building native live streaming to Mixer into the console, which completely eliminates the need for a capture card.
Capture Cards
So how does a capture card work exactly? When streaming console gameplay with a capture card, you’re essentially connecting your console to a PC and then streaming from your PC. To put it simply, streaming from a PC = one piece of hardware. Streaming from a console means console + capture card + PC = three pieces of a hardware. That that takes up space and effort. Take a look:
There is a tradeoff with that, of course. Using a capture card gives you better control over your stream settings, options for higher quality visuals, and use of a PC to manage the stream while playing the game. So if you’re either a pro streamer or simply someone who wants the highest quality stream possible, a capture card might be right for you.
Native Streaming
If you’re more concerned about cost, ease, and space, Xbox has built native streaming into its consoles for simple streaming on-demand without any hassle of a complicated setup or need for a capture card.
Great, right? Yes! But while Xbox’s native streaming did make console streaming easier, it still lacked the ability to personalize or brand your stream. It was difficult to stand out and grow your following and your audience.
Use Lightstream for Personalized Streaming
By integrating Lightstream on Xbox, console gamers have the ability to add their own overlays, graphics, slideshows, and text to their stream as well as benefit from engaging viewers with 3rd party integration stream alerts which provide the ability to shout out to subscribers, highlight donations, set goals, and more.
Once you have your Lightstream Studio Gamer Project set up, it’s easy to stream your gameplay without a capture card or PC software. Your personalizations will be saved and added to your stream automatically every time you go live. As long as you have an Xbox One and an internet connection, you’re ready to begin! Check out this tutorial for a quick breakdown on how it works!
Looking to stream to PS4? Check out our PS4 Tutorial here!
