Elon Musk, the gamer: X is working on game streaming, live shopping feature to overhaul platform

Elon Musk is expanding the capabilities of X, formerly known as Twitter, by incorporating new video features like game streaming and live shopping, with the aim of transforming the platform into a comprehensive “everything app.” These features are currently accessible to X Premium subscribers. Musk unveiled this feature during a 54-minute Diablo IV game stream, which was posted from an anonymous Twitter account using the handle @cyb3rgam3r420 last Sunday. He later confirmed that the company was indeed experimenting with this game-streaming feature. Mark Kalman, an engineer at X, also shared a video tutorial explaining how Premium subscribers can set up game streaming by connecting Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) to their Twitter accounts via X Media Studio. At present, it remains uncertain how committed X is to attracting streamers, as the feature appears to primarily support viewer comments in the streams but lacks many creator-centric features found on other platforms. Nevertheless, this initiative reflects X’s ongoing efforts to entice more users to the platform through the inclusion of creators and new video features. In a separate move, X has announced its intention to experiment with live shopping features, with the involvement of Paris Hilton. Hilton has committed to producing four original video content programs each year, which will incorporate live shopping elements, according to reports from Variety. One notable challenge X may face is ensuring its infrastructure can support these new live video features. The company underwent layoffs of several site reliability engineers last year and has experienced difficulties with managing large live audio and video streams, particularly when amplified by Musk’s account. An example of this was the stream’s instability during Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ chat on Spaces in May when he announced a presidential run alongside Musk. According to Walter Isaacson, Musk’s biographer, the problem stemmed from an ill-planned data center relocation. While there have been efforts to address these issues, they do not seem to be completely resolved. Just recently, when Musk attempted to livestream his visit to the US-Mexico border, the video feed abruptly cut out after approximately four minutes. To resolve this, Musk sent a company-wide email to X’s staff, urgently requesting a solution to the problem.