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Destiny 2 Has Restricted Streaming Options on PC
Destiny 2 is heading to PC over a month after it debuts on consoles, which means PC shooter fans will have to be patient. They'll also have to be careful about how they stream the game, according to a post on Bungie's website.
According to Bungie, popular streaming software such as OBS and XSplit will only work in certain configurations, while hardware-based solutions have more leeway. If you want to stream using OBS or XSplit, you'll have to keep the game in Windowed or Borderless Fullscreen mode, and use the "Screen Capture" or "Window Capture" method, rather than the traditional "Game Capture" option. Using an Elgato, AVerMedia device (or an Nvidia graphics card's native Shadowplay function), you can stream without having to sacrifice CPU horsepower in windowed mode.
Additionally, those looking to use third-party overlays (such as those found chat apps like Discord or Mumble) won't work, though you can still receive notifications from those apps. Framerate counters found in third-party apps aren't compatible, either.
Finally, Bungie notes the list on their site is not comprehensive. "The above listed application features are examples of features that are known to be incompatible with Destiny 2 on PC," the company says. "The examples listed on this page are not all encompassing, and players may encounter issues with the features of other applications that rely on code being inserted into the game client. Players are to run these applications' features at their discretion while running Destiny 2."
Our Take
This feels like a developer going overboard when it comes to keeping their game competitively viable on PC. Lots of popular competitive games don't resort to limiting streaming apps in order to keep their game competitive, but games like Counter-Strike and Overwatch do have some degree of hacking and cheating. The other thing to keep in mind is that these restrictions heavily favor using Nvidia's native Shadowplay function for streaming, since the app's framerate counter is also likely to work. This makes sense since the graphics card company and Activision have a partnership for the game, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
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