Mobcrush aims to be Twitch for mobile, hires Apple, Google, and Xbox leads to do it

By Will Fulton July 30, 2015

mobcrush open beta

Startup Mobcrush, now in open beta, is bringing Twitch-style live game streaming to mobile phones and tablets. The beta is currently only open to people with iOS devices and Mac computers, but Windows and Android betas will follow. Ultimately Mobcrush intends to provide “one-click, multiplatform streaming, which allows players to live stream gameplay sessions at the touch of a button, chat with their communities in real time, and save videos for future viewing and distribution.”

In pursuit of this goal, Mobcrush has been hiring executive talent from the major, relevant companies. Alongside the public beta, today the company announced hiring Koh Kim, who previously worked in Google Play games business development, and Greg Essig, who ran the games section of the Apple App Store. The pair will co-run business development, joining a team that also recently added Eric Doty, a former Xbox strategist for Microsoft.

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“Greg and I have always respected each other and believed in the engagement and reach of mobile,” said Kim in a prepared statement. “We’ve always wished we could work more closely together, and now are able to combine forces, pulling from both of our backgrounds to offer a unique expertise that spans the whole mobile space and will help creators and mobile game developers interact with their fans.”

Mobile game streaming isn’t new — Twitch has dabbled, and companies like Kamcord also have apps. Mobcrush aims to stand out from the pack with its ease of use. The closed beta already pulled in some impressive numbers. A July 23 live stream of Supercell’s Boom Beach drew over 114,000 views, peaking around 20,000 concurrent viewers. It wrapped with a total 1 million minutes of live gameplay viewed.

Live streaming games has become big business in the last year. Amazon purchased breakout success Twitch for nearly $1 billion. Subsequently Google, which reportedly failed in its bid for Twitch, announced a competing service, YouTube Gaming. With consoles and PC covered, mobile is the last great frontier for game streaming, and Mobcrush is well positioned to stake it out.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

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