The Gaming Careers Podcast

Creating OBS: The MOST POPULAR Streaming Software

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Episode notes

In this episode, we talk to Hugh "Jim" Bailey, the guy who created Open Broadcaster Software, more commonly known as OBS. We discuss how OBS grew from a solo side-project to the world's most popular streaming software, why Twitch is still the best platform for viewers, and what it's like to turn down a 7-figure offer.

OBS Studio is free and open-source software for video recording and live streaming. Since it's release in 2012, OBS quickly became the most popular software solution people used to live stream to platforms like Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and Mixer.

In this episode, we cover:

  1. Jim's decision to build streaming software (0:57)
  2. How OBS began, and the story behind the name (1:40)
  3. How OBS became so popular (2:19)
  4. OBS Classic vs OBS Studio (3:41)
  5. OBS's best and worst features (4:38)
  6. Major releases, bug fixes and frustrations (6:11)
  7. Turning down 7-figures to protect your users (7:48)
  8. Dealing with competition from Streamlabs OBS (9:54)
  9. The scope of OBS and it's many use-cases (11:24)
  10. How many people work on OBS Studio (12:51)
  11. Dealing with pressure to perform whilst streaming (13:37)
  12. Jim's favorite streamers to watch (14:20)
  13. The platform wars between Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, and Facebook (15:08)

Links mentioned:
Download OBS
Support OBS on Open Collective/Patreon
OBS Discord for support
OBS Twitter

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