After receiving an additional $14 million in equity funding from Advanced Micro Devices, Accel Partners, DAG Ventures, Tenaya Capital and others, online gaming service Raptr is launching its newest project, Plays.tv.
Plays.tv is a website for gamers to share highlights of their favorite moments. It works by running in the background and continuously recording your screen while you’re playing. When something cool happens, you press a button (CTRL+/ by default), and Plays.tv will automatically capture a clip of your gameplay (the last 15 seconds, by default). Raptr says that this constant recording won’t slow down your PC, stating that it typically results in less than 3% performance impact.
The concept is similar to NVIDIA’s program, Shadowplay, although the latter allows you to capture and upload clips that are up to 20 minutes long. Raptr’s FAQ reads “We are initially limiting Plays.tv clips to 90 seconds, because we think the coolest moments can be captured in that amount of time. You can save clips of any length, but to share them you’ll need to trim them.”
The stricter time limit on the clips could be a good or a bad thing: The imposed time-limit might drive some people away; but then again, a lot of people thought that Vine was a stupid idea before it exploded into a cultural phenomenon. Either way, it’s a service that will allow you to capture your gameplay footage without the need for editing skills, and that’s pretty cool.
The streaming market is bursting, lately: Recent reports suggest that Google has decided to bring back YouTube livestreaming, specifically with a focus on esports. It will be interesting to see how people combine services like Twitch or Plays.tv with the resurrected livestreaming service, or if YouTube will include its own clip-capturing features.
If you want to start sharing your kill-streaks and achievements with the world, you can head over to Plays.tv right now to check out the service. It’s worth noting that you’ll need a free Raptr account in order to use Plays.tv.
