Streamlabs

{{Infobox company

| name = Streamlabs

| logo = Streamlabs logo.svg

| former_name = TwitchAlerts

| parent = Logitech

| industry = Software

| founders = Tom Maneri; Ali Moiz; Murtaza Hussain

| products = {{Unbulleted list|Streamlabs Desktop|Crossclip|Willow|Melon|Oslo|Streamlabs Charity}}

}}

Streamlabs (formerly TwitchAlerts) is a software company headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company was founded in 2014 and distributes a variety of software centered around live streaming and content creation.

History

Streamlabs was founded in 2014 as TwitchAlerts, a fork of OBS Studio with on-screen visual alerts typically used by streamers.{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=February 23, 2021 |title=Streamlabs launches a 'link in bio' website builder that includes tipping |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/23/streamlabs-launches-a-link-in-bio-website-builder-that-includes-tipping/ |access-date=2021-08-05 |website=Techcrunch |language=en}}

TwitchAlerts had no official affiliation with Twitch, and was later renamed to Streamlabs in 2016. Logitech purchased the company for $89 million on September 26, 2019.{{cite web |last=Ballard |first=John |date=November 3, 2019 |title=Logitech Is Making an $89 Million Bet on Game Streaming |url=https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/11/03/logitech-is-making-an-89-million-bet-on-game-strea.aspx |access-date=November 4, 2019}}{{cite web|url= https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/26/20886060/logitech-streamlabs-obs-acquisition-twitch|title=Logitech is buying Streamlabs for $89 million|last=Peters|first=Jay|date=September 26, 2019|access-date=November 4, 2019}}

Products

Streamlabs Desktop (formerly Streamlabs OBS) is a free and open-source streaming software that is based on a sheep fork of OBS Studio. Electron is used as the software framework for the user interface.{{Cite web|title=Streamlabs OBS V1 is Officially Here!|url=https://streamlabs.com/content-hub/post/streamlabs-obs-v1-is-officially-here|access-date=2021-03-27|website=Streamlabs|language=en|quote=Electron, the desktop framework that powers our app}} Streamlabs distributes the user's content over platforms such as Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook.{{cite web|url= https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2018/12/14/twitch-gaming-streamlabs-moiz.html|title=How these brothers run a gaming startup without sibling rivalry getting in the way|last=Downing|first=Shane|date=December 14, 2018|access-date=November 4, 2019}}

Crossclip is a video converter website that allows users to convert, edit and share live streaming content across multiple platforms.{{Cite web|last=Hatmaker|first=Taylor|date=July 15, 2021|title=Streamlabs launches Crossclip, a new tool for sharing Twitch clips to TikTok, Instagram and YouTube|url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/15/streamlabs-convert-twitch-clips-crossclip/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHHMKDsqIu4wnhDXXJe0IQW9Hq8plwK_9I-mD0g4tzKRdZkdDe1L2lmqtkgKEMijjhjQCN60fhExfBn0PSsi3BokxUwKHF8nnbGA1gkaIqTAuSKQprAPDfTchMWs3olrPUM_DmUyKt_HAxGPOe0P_KmOALB9QbVdWTSob8OSd2pb|access-date=2021-08-05|website=Techcrunch|language=en}}

Willow is a link-in-bio link tool designed to help users increase revenue and make their links more discoverable. It includes a tipping feature and allows users to tip directly on the page.{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/23/streamlabs-launches-a-link-in-bio-website-builder-that-includes-tipping/|title=Streamlabs launches a 'link in bio' website builder that includes tipping|last=Perez|first=Sarah|date=February 23, 2021|website=Techcrunch|language=en|access-date=2021-08-05}}

Melon is a browser-based podcast live streaming platform. Users can broadcast their live streams to Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, or a custom RTMP destination.{{Cite web|url=https://www.windowscentral.com/melon-new-service-designed-make-live-podcasting-much-easier|title=Melon is a new service designed to make live podcasting much easier|last=Boddy|first=Zachary|date=September 30, 2020|website=Windows Central|language=en|access-date=2021-08-05}}

Oslo is a video review and collaboration tool. Users can upload and share projects in the cloud, and Oslo's project management and annotation tools provide ways for teams to receive and review feedback, as well as upload videos to YouTube.{{Cite web|url=https://www.windowscentral.com/say-hi-oslo-new-and-essential-collaborative-team-video-editing-tool|title=Say hi to 'Oslo', a new and essential collaborative team video editing tool|last=Corden|first=Jez|date=October 1, 2020|website=Windows Central|language=en|access-date=2021-08-05}}

Streamlabs Charity is a free fundraising platform that assists charities in raising funds and connecting with streamers. Excluding standard processing fees, the platform takes no cut from donations, allowing all proceeds to go to charity.{{Cite web|url=https://streamlabs.com/content-hub/post/streamlabs-launches-fundraising-platform-to-raise-millions-for-charities-through-live-streaming|title=Streamlabs launches fundraising platform to raise millions for charities through live streaming|last=May|first=Ethan|date=November 25, 2019|website=Streamlabs|language=en|access-date=2021-08-05}}{{Cite web|url=https://streamlabscharity.com/|title=Start your next charity stream|website=Streamlabs Charity|language=en|access-date=2021-08-05}}

Criticism

On November 16, 2021, Streamlabs released 'Streamlabs Studio', a cloud capture software for the Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and the Xbox Series X.{{Cite web |title=Streaming Flashback #1 Resolving the Streamlabs OBS and OBS Studio Naming Controversy: A Clash of Livestreaming Software |url=https://ireplay.tv/blog/streamlabs-obs-studio-livestreaming-software-naming-controversy-open-broadcaster-software-lightstream/ |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=iReplay.TV}} After the release, the streaming service Lightstream accused Streamlabs of plagiarizing their promotional materials.{{Cite web |date=November 17, 2021 |title=Lightstream and Elgato fire off at Streamlabs for copying their homework |url=https://venturebeat.com/2021/11/16/lightstream-and-elgato-fire-off-at-streamlabs-for-copying-their-homework/ |access-date=2021-11-17 |website=VentureBeat |language=en-US}} Later that same day, the OBS Studio team claimed in a tweet that Streamlabs used the name "OBS" in their products despite OBS Studio already denying Streamlabs permission to use the name. This gave the false appearance of being in partnership with OBS Studio.{{cite tweet |number=1460782968633499651 |user=OBSProject |title=Near the launch of SLOBS, @streamlabs reached out to us about using the OBS name. We kindly asked them not to. They did so anyway and followed up by filing a trademark We've tried to sort this out in private and they have been uncooperative at every turn |author=OBS |date=November 16, 2021 |access-date=March 14, 2023 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117013304/https://twitter.com/OBSProject/status/1460782968633499651 |archive-date=November 17, 2021 |url-status=live}}

OBS Studio's tweet resulted in Twitch streamers, including Pokimane and Hasan Piker, threatening a boycott of their product if changes were not made.{{cite web |last=Michael |first=Cale |date=November 17, 2021 |title=Pokimane, Hasan, OBS, Elgato among those who call out Streamlabs for an apparent copy of Lightstream's product |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/esports/pokimane-hasan-obs-elgato-among-those-who-call-out-streamlabs-for-apparent-copy-of-lightstream-e2-80-99s-product/ar-AAQNGRl |accessdate=2021-11-17 |publisher=MSN}} Other companies, such as Elgato and 1UpCoin, released statements on Twitter about Streamlabs copying their products.{{cite tweet |number=1460722403261046789 |user=elgato |title=@Lightstream Know that feel. https://t.co/lqwWxL4pY9 |author=Elgato |author-link=Elgato |date=November 16, 2021 |access-date=November 21, 2021 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119014244/https://twitter.com/elgato/status/1460722403261046789 |archive-date=November 19, 2021 |url-status=live}}{{cite tweet |number=1460739573303189506 |user=WarpWorld |title=@Lightstream They reached out to us when our startup was barely born about our Cryptocurrency donation service (https://t.co/3OF2ZDbnor) with a "let's collaborate to bring this to more people" tone. Only to then take everything discussed and doing it themselves as "pioneers" So, we feel this |author=Warp World |date=November 16, 2021 |access-date=November 21, 2021 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119205255/https://twitter.com/warpworld/status/1460739573303189506 |archive-date=November 19, 2021 |url-status=live}} The company subsequently removed the name "OBS" from their products.{{cite news |last=Roth |first=Emma |date=November 17, 2021 |title=Streamlabs will drop 'OBS' name after getting called out by open-source app |url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/17/22788051/streamlabs-quickly-drops-obs-name-called-out |access-date=November 18, 2021 |work=The Verge}}{{Cite web |last=Hatmaker |first=Taylor |date=November 18, 2021 |title=Streamlabs changes its name after backlash from Twitch stars and open source software maker |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/17/streamlabs-obs-name-controversy-pokimane/ |access-date=2023-03-12 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}