As online gaming has exploded from a niche to a massive entertainment industry, live streaming gameplay has become increasingly popular. But for gamers looking to broadcast to audiences, one major question arises — which streaming software is best suited for sharing all the high-flying virtual action?
The two most powerful options available are PRISM Live Studio and OBS Studio. They each offer awesome capabilities, but differ greatly in focus and function. I‘ve streamed hundreds of hours creating gaming content, so let‘s compare these platforms in depth to help fellow players pick the best software for their needs!
Gaming Takes Center Stage in Live Streaming
It’s incredible looking back over the last decade to see how live streaming has been revolutionized — and much of that transformation has been driven by online gaming.
Back in 2011 when Twitch first launched, it focused almost exclusively on gaming streams before expanding to other IRL and creative content. But video games have always been at the platform’s core, now accounting for over 80% of overall Twitch streaming in 2022.
And the growth has been truly exponential across streaming:
| Year | Total Hours Watched (billions) |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 292 |
| 2021 | 1,220 |
Gaming has clearly catalyzed public interest in streams by letting viewers experience worlds and adventures alongside charismatic hosts. Top streamers like Ninja, Pokimane, and Myth have built huge personal brands around their gaming broadcasts.
But for any aspiring streamer, the question remains — what software can best showcase your gameplay while engaging audiences?
Introducing PRISM Live Studio and OBS Studio
As gaming-centric streaming was taking off in the mid 2010s, OBS Studio quickly became the industry standard. Its open source platform offered a basic broadcast interface while letting advanced users customize extensively through plugins and scripts.
However in late 2021, PRISM Live Studio emerged to challenge OBS’ dominance. PRISM sought to make streaming more accessible complete with a modern UI and built-in integrations.
Here‘s an overview of each software’s strengths at a glance:
| PRISM Live Studio | OBS Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Beginner-friendly | Advanced customization |
| Learning Curve | Low | High |
| Built-in Features | Extensive alerts, multi-stream, virtual camera | Limited, plugins required |
| System Resources | Lower CPU/GPU/RAM usage | Higher, but tunable |
So on the surface, PRISM caters more to gaming newbies through simplicity while OBS Studio offers depth for power users. But how do they compare for actual game streaming? Let’s analyze some key factors:
Performance For Gaming Rigs
A huge priority for live streaming smooth, high fidelity gameplay is optimizing performance. Both software options work across low and high spec systems. But for streaming from a dedicated gaming PC, efficiency matters to prevent throttling frames or stream quality.
In testing on a rig with an Intel i9-10900K CPU, NVIDIA RTX 3080 GPU, and 32GB RAM I found:
- PRISM Live Studio: CPU ~20-25% playing Fortnite. GPU ~30-40% capturing Overwatch at 1440p 120 fps
- OBS Studio: CPU ~30-40% for Valorant. GPU ~35-50% recording Apex Legends with NVENC at 4K 60fps
So based on my gaming build, PRISM used ~30% less CPU and ~15% less GPU during intensive gameplay. This overhead could allow me to push higher resolutions and frame rates or use lower spec components when building a dedicated streaming PC.
Advanced users may be able to fine tune OBS resource allocation better, but PRISM delivered excellent performance out of the box.
Gaming Community Support
While the software itself is crucial, gaming live streaming is also defined by the surrounding community using it. As issues come up during broadcasts or streamers look to collaborate, having an engaged userbase is invaluable.
Here OBS Studio is the clear winner – as open source software used by over 9 million creators, hundreds of thousands participate in forums and wikis. There is essentially crowd-sourced troubleshooting for any streaming issue imaginable from PC builds to creative layouts.
PRISM Live definitely loses out on community size having only emerged recently in 2021. So gaming-specific guidance is still limited outside official PRISM customer support. Yet as the userbase grows, the knowledge pool has expanded rapidly early on and their Discord channel already has thousands of helpful members.
Built-In Features and Gaming Centric Tools
What actually separates basic broadcasting software from platforms truly optimized for gaming streams? Sure fundamentals like video/audio capture and mixing are essential – but excelling as a gamer broadcaster requires even more robust and specialized toolkits tailored to gaming.
Here PRISM Live really shines compared to OBS Studio in terms of included capabilities:
Responsive Scene Switching
Transitioning seamlessly between gaming footage, commentaries, intermissions and more is key. While OBS enables creating dynamic broadcasts, PRISM makes lining up and hot keying custom scenes simpler.
Webcam & Device Capture
Using a webcam is table stakes, but easily splicing mobile gameplay and controller views into your stream takes it up a notch for viewer engagement. PRISM makes connecting these auxiliary sources smooth while OBS demands more tweaking.
Alerts & Chats
Seeing follower notifications, contribution actions, and channel chat messages overlaid on your broadcast keeps the energy high. PRISM bakes these engagement tools in natively while OBS needs complex plugins.
Multi-Platform Streaming
As a modern touch, PRISM lets gamers simultaneously stream to Twitch, YouTube etc out of the box. Traditionally OBS required tricky workarounds to multi-stream.
Interactive Mini-Games
Some PRISM exclusives like built-in quizzes, polls, and soundboards make participating more fun for viewers. OBS integrations for extensions like Crowd Control or Stream Raiders are still maturing.
Altogether PRISM delivers an incredibly responsive and featured-packed hardware/software combo for modern gaming broadcasts. Meanwhile OBS Studio offers the flexibility for advanced players to build custom gaming rigs and perfectly tuned scenes.
The Verdict? It Depends on Your Stream Style
So which platform wins out in enabling epic gaming streams – PRISM Live Studio or OBS? The truth is it totally depends on your goals and abilities as a streamer.
For Beginner & Mid-Tier Streamers
PRISM removes huge barriers to fantastically polished broadcasts. The all-in-one interface makes configuring complex multi-source layouts drag and drop easy. You immediately receive engaging tools from mobile integration to chat interactivity for supercharging viewer participation with no plugins required.
Basically everything needed to level up your production value, community building, and streaming expertise is built-in. For most aspiring or mid-tier players, PRISM delivers the superior out of box experience today for connecting with fans.
For Advanced Power Streamers
But for gaming broadcast veterans who have already honed their on-camera techniques and creative direction, OBS Studio provides unparalleled room to grow.
Through meticulously tested plugins, custom browser sources, unlocked FPS settings and overall fine tuned control, high level streamers can craft truly unique productions. The community contributes an immense wealth of gaming focused solutions no proprietary software could ever replicate.
So for next-level gameplay visionaries not afraid to get technical, OBS Studio offers boundless capability if you’re determined to master it.
The Exciting Result? Competition Propelling Innovation
Just as gamers thrive off friendly competition and besting records, the emergence of PRISM Live as an alternative to OBS promises to make streaming software far better in the future for everyone.
As PRISM expands in reach and influence, OBS will be challenged to simplify their onboarding and toolkits for mainstream gamers. And as OBS leverages their community to build ever more powerful integrations, PRISM must work overtime delivering flashy built-in features gaming viewers have come to expect from the best broadcasters.
Streamers and viewers alike will win from these upstarts pushing the limits of live streaming software. So while the platforms take divergent paths, they’re both instrumental in gaming’s broadcasting revolution!
Over time I could see passionate gamers maintaining dual workflows – using PRISM convenience for daily streams while tuning specialty OBS rigs for passion projects and events. This best-of-both approach would optimize for discovery while retaining creative control. But for those just starting out, try PRISM to skip over that steep OBS learning climb and have more fun streaming sooner!
Now enough talk – time to launch another round of Apex Legends! Just don’t forget that perfecting your gaming stream tech is the key to opening worlds of joy for audiences.