With pro-gamer streams being one of the most wide-spread forms of eSports entertainment, seeing them go mobile is nothing if not natural. To better understand what does it take for eSports fans to watch their favorite personas on the go, we talk to software developer Henrik Lauste-Jurvin, creator of GGWorld stream app.
iOS and Android apps that aid video game fans are anything but a new concept. Every gamer is a few downloads away from keeping track of his WoW hero, tuning in to every ongoing tournament and/or following the practice sessions of their team or player of choice. A day before a new application that takes care of the latter hit the android market, Henrik gives us a tour through his new "child" - something born from the idea of being comprehensive and user-friendly at the same time.
A few months ago, bored from his unemployment, a software engineer decides to create something good and fun for the community. His starting point is the chat on Mill.Dragon's stream, where he finds an adherent and the two of them start an enormous project.Their first idea involves an app that involves gaming trivia, leaderboards, betting on games, SC2 ranks implementation, streams, gaining experience and leveling up within the app, etc. However, as the enormous undertaking is something too heavy for just two people to go through, Henrik and his partner switch to something easier, yet just as practical - an app that combines streams of every game out there on the most popular channels Twitch.tv, Justin.tv and Own3d.tv. With something that can actually be brought to finish with the small crew they have, GGWorld becomes the new starting point of the new company "Toss Imba", through whose monetization they can strive for something even bigger.
The first version of the app is completed in a month and a half after 15-hour long workdays.
According to Henrik, their app is as practical as it is easy to use. The guys at "Toss Imba" follow the idea that when stream apps are actually developed by stream users it puts them one step ahead of the competition.
"When you start the application, the 100 most viewed streams from each channel are displayed. You can follow the streams in the list by simply taping the heart next to the streamers name. Or, you can search for a specific user by using the search function. We will probably change it a little bit, so when you slide down to the bottom of the stream list, new streams will be fetched.
Many of the other streamer apps have it but they haven't had the user experience in mind. Less taps = better."
Many of the other streamer apps have it but they haven't had the user experience in mind. Less taps = better."
What's next for GGWorld and "Toss Imba", however? According to Henrik, a chat function will be released in the next version of the app as well as a desktop widget for gold users that allows one to follow which streams are online or offline without even starting the app. We tried getting some information about a possible GomTV integration and although this was on Henrik's "wanna-do" list, he couldn't give us anything more.
What we do know for sure is that 1) the app is absolutely free over at Google play and that an iOS version will come in the next one or two months. If this will be a stepping stone towards more "Toss Imba" projects only time will tell.
