Of all the companies directly related to the streaming community, I admit that I did not expect Streamlabs to be one of those that end up in the pillory. And, as a general rule, the services offered by this company are quite valued by streamers (or at least by those with whom I have dealings) and recently, with the alternative to Twitch subscriptions, it managed to arouse a lot of interest among many from streamers who feared the consequences of the platform’s rate cut.
However, all that prestige that Streamlabs has been adding over the years, could be about to fall apart from various revelations that have been made public in recent days, and that they have changed the friendly face that he had managed to project so far, for another much less graceful, and that involves streamers, companies and even those responsible for a more than recognized open software project, fundamental in the present of live via Internet.
And let’s start with the latter, as we learned today that when Streamlabs developed its popular StreamlabsOBS, its own software for managing live broadcasts, those in charge contacted the creators of OBS, an open source solution designed for the same purpose, and which is overwhelmingly popular in the community. The reason for this contact was to see if they agreed with Streamlabs using the acronym OBS in its software.
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 https://t.co/r1eXr3VxcJ
– OBS (@OBSProject) November 17, 2021
The response from those responsible for OBS was to ask them not to do so, since the coincidence in the name could confuse users. In response, Streamlabs nor just went ahead with their plans by adding the acronym OBS to the name of your application, but they also registered it commercially, thus preventing it from being used by others. Following this controversy, however, it seems that the company has decided to change the name of its software, which is now called Streamlabs.
On the other hand, and coinciding with the launch of its software for Xbox, the Lightstream company, which also offers solutions for streamers, has published a tweet in which it shows the templates they offer, along with those that Streamlabs has included in its solution for the Xbox console, with the accusation that the company, owned by Logitech, would have stolen their designs, making only minor modifications so that they are not identical.
🤡 Hey, can I copy your homework?
â–½ Yeah, just change it up a bit so it’s not obvious you copied.
🤡 Bet. pic.twitter.com/xODY5uDZeP
– Lightstream (@Lightstream) November 16, 2021
Even more? Well, it seems that it is, and it is that according to some media, the popular company of products for streamers Elgato, would also have accused Streamlabs of having copied one of its products. Although the company has not clarified what it refers to, I imagine you mean Streamlabs Deck, an app for the smartphone that provides functions similar to those that we can obtain with the Elgato Stream Deck device.
As a consequence of these revelations, the first reactions have already taken place, on the part of streamers, who have asked Streamlabs to remove their names from the company’s promotional pages. A first step that, if extended, can translate into the abandonment of the service by its users, which would be a probably unacceptable blow for the company. And I admit that I am sorry, but of course, it is that in a few hours all the prestige accumulated over the years seems to have evaporated.
