Facebook isn’t done with streaming yet. In 2016, the company launched Facebook live, and while it had some newsworthy issues of how Facebook is monitoring and controlling content, it has also made strides to become a home for esports. Facebook has since signed exclusive deals to stream esports tournaments as well as a partnership to be the official platform of Paladins. Now, Facebook has stepped up its game with a new pilot program to help with distribution and monetization.

Facebook’s pilot program, which was announced via blog, sounds like a mix between pre- existing functionality as well as adding in some Twitch-esque tipping and monetization. For instance, Facebook seeks to use its connections as a social media platform to leverage distribution across Facebook, Instagram, and Oculus – which is certainly something no other platform could do as easily. The announcement also reveals support for 1080p/60fps and exploration towards tipping. Facebook is also making a push towards hosting events and making a much bigger splash at PAX East in April.

While Facebook hasn’t attracted many stars yet, they are putting a lot of value onto StoneMountain64, who they see as their flagship streamer and social media presence. With over 1 million followers on Facebook and 45k followers and Twitter, he is far and away the most popular streamer on the platform, but he and Facebook still have a long way to go to rival their peers.

Comparatively, Facebook is still very much fighting for scraps. As the image above shows, Facebook is equal to just 3% of Twitch’s average concurrent streamers, with Twitch also serving up a whopping 1.7 million active streamers. This makes Twitch still the premier streaming service in the world and especially for esports. While Facebook is making efforts to increase presence, it is still woefully behind the game. The monetization system will only be made available to a select few of their 27k streamers, and as of now, Facebook has released precious few details about how monetization, aside from tipping, will take form.

It will be a hard sell for Facebook to compete against the two juggernauts already in the field, but if they are to succeed, they’ll have to offer something that the others don’t. Twitch is famous for its communities and interaction, while Youtube has – historically – paid out far better than Twitch, mostly due to a streamers ability to monetize streams into successful videos. For now, Facebook can’t compete with monetization and its chat functionality is paltry by comparison. However, Facebook’s steps to allow streamers to increased audience and presence via Facebook and Instagram could give them an edge in reach that the others can’t provide.