Arcade-Verse Streaming Engine
How to use Go Live, understand your streaming hours, and get the most out of our easy-to-use OBS streaming engine.
What is the Arcade-Verse stream engine?
The stream engine lets you broadcast gameplay live. Our platform gives you an optimized OBS setup so you can stream to Livepeer. Pick a game, hit Go Live, grab your stream key — your stream is created and metered automatically.
Going live (Go Live)
How to go live on each platform
From Go Live you get an RTMP server URL and stream key. Use them in OBS or EMP Live, or add as multistream targets to broadcast everywhere at once.
- Arcade-Verse (main)In Go Live, open the OBS or EMP Live tab. Copy the Server (RTMP URL) and Stream Key. In OBS: Settings → Stream → set Service to "Custom", paste Server and Stream Key. Your stream appears on the live page and uses your plan minutes.
- TwitchTwitch Dashboard → Settings → Stream: copy Primary Stream Key and ingest server (e.g.
rtmp://live.twitch.tv/app). In Go Live → Stream targets add that server + key, or in OBS set Service to Twitch and paste the key. - YouTubeYouTube Studio → Create → Go live → Stream: copy Stream key and Server URL. Add in Go Live → Stream targets or OBS. Often
rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2/+ your key. - Facebook LiveFacebook → Create → Live video → Connect: copy RTMP URL and stream key. Add in Go Live → Stream targets or OBS as Custom.
- TikTok LiveTikTok → Profile → Go Live (or Creator tools): get RTMP server and stream key. Add as stream target in Go Live or OBS Custom.
- Generic RTMP (any service)Any service that gives RTMP URL + stream key: use Custom in OBS or add a target in Go Live. Multistream burns minutes = duration × (1 + number of targets); see "How metering works".
Livestream via OBS
OBS is free and customizable. Follow these steps to stream into Arcade-Verse.
Configuring OBS for low latency
Two settings that strongly affect latency and quality are Rate Control (bitrate/quality) and Keyframe Interval (how often a full frame appears). For HLS playback we recommend a 2-second keyframe interval for a good balance. Turn off B-frames (set x264 options: bframes=0) for lowest latency; B-frames improve compression but increase latency.
Recommended OBS profiles (starting points):
- Low latency, high quality: Rate Control CRF 25, Keyframe Interval 1, CPU Preset veryfast, Profile High,
bframes=0, 1080p. - Low latency, bad connections: CBR 1200 Kbps, Keyframe 1, veryfast, High,
bframes=0, 720p. - Balanced: CRF 25, Keyframe 2, veryfast, High; or CBR 2000, Keyframe 2, 1080p.
- High quality, higher latency: CRF 27, Keyframe 10,
bframes=3, 1080p.
Adjust to your connection and priorities. Longer keyframe intervals reduce bandwidth but increase latency; shorter keyframes (1–2s) keep latency low for live gameplay.
Plans and streaming hours
- Free: No streaming allowance. Go Live is not available.
- Pro: 5 hours of streaming per billing period (monthly). Ad-free and access to Go Live.
- Premium: 20 hours per period, plus multistreaming and priority support.
Your "remaining" time is shown in the dashboard and is used when you start a stream. If you hit your limit mid-stream, the stream is automatically stopped when the cron runs (so you are not charged beyond your quota).
Top-ups
You can buy extra streaming time (e.g. a 10-hour pack) as a one-time purchase. Top-up hours are added to your account and usedafter your plan allowance. They do not expire at the end of the billing period—they last until you use them. You can get top-ups from the dashboard or billing page.
How metering works (under the hood)
When a stream session ends (you stop, or we stop it due to limit), we compute how long it ran and "burn" that time:
- Allowance first: We deduct from your plan's monthly allowance (
streamingUsedSecondsincreases). - Then top-up: If the session used more than your remaining allowance, the rest is deducted from your top-up balance.
Session end is detected via the Livepeer webhook (stream.idle), or when you explicitly end the session, or when our cron job stops the stream because you hit your limit. In all cases we update your usage in the database so your dashboard and next stream start use the correct remaining time.
FAQ
While we highly recommend OBS Studio (or our custom desktop app, EMP Live) for the best quality and reliability, you don't strictly need it if you use a platform's built-in webcaster. However, to stream gameplay directly to Arcade-Verse with the lowest latency and highest quality, OBS is the industry standard.
Navigate to the Go Live tab to generate a ready-to-use OBS configuration block, a secure stream key, and your ingest URL. Plug those into OBS and you're ready to broadcast!