Twitch’s Booming Popularity
Social media exploded when Twitch streamer, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins played the survival sandbox game, Fortnite with famed rapper, Drake. In a few moments, Ninja and Drake trended worldwide with thousands of tweets about the stream. More than half a million- close to 600,000 people tuned in to watch two men from different worlds join together to play the popular video game, shattering the previous record of 380,000 concurrent viewers. This event brought focus onto how streaming sites like Twitch are slowly transitioning onto the mainstream stage. Because of the rising popularity, many question why people would watch others play games when they could do it themselves. The service acquired by Amazon is expected to have a bright future because of the growing eSports industry, entertaining streamers and collaboration with Amazon.
First of all, Twitch shaped the esports gaming industry as it is the prominent platform for gaming tournaments. The Overwatch League is a professional eSports league for the Blizzard game with twelve different city-based teams, many see it as the NFL of gaming because of their own stars, franchise owners and sponsorships. Before the launch of the Overwatch League, Blizzard and Twitch negotiated for the site to be the only third-party broadcaster for the professional league in the world. Overwatch has the opportunity to be one of the most watched global eSports tournaments as the game has an audience of 35 million players, allowing Twitch to gain more viewers for other streams. Twitch also announced new features such as allowing viewers to spend money on cheering (Twitch’s virtual currency), and from this, they would receive in-game items like exclusive skins. Additionally, connecting your Twitch account to your Overwatch account would earn you game tokens. With one hundred of these tokens, one could buy a skin from their favorite team and lucky viewers could earn extra tokens. These promotions would increase the number of viewers because of the opportunity to get rare in-game items and raises a fan’s pride in their respective teams.
In addition, Twitch has a growing fanbase because of the diverse streaming genres and thousands of entertainers on the streaming site. Despite the fact that it is famous for gaming livestreams; one could listen to music, watch someone draw, write or even program games as Twitch is perfect for passionate gamers and artists of all mediums; there is no limit of what someone could stream. Furthermore, streaming is popular because similar to sports, it is entertaining to watch someone commentate while they are playing, and people naturally gravitate towards the funny. On the top of the food chain is Ninja, a streamer who is currently earning more than $500,000 a year and is projected to hit 75 million followers in two years. He has a demographic which appeals huge variety of ages- his explosive and fun personality attracts young adolescents and his multiple winning streak and skill at the game impress adults. Everyone has their own personality and because of that, people have preferences over their favorite streamers. It is very genuine to watch the streamer when videos happen in real time and see their raw interactions, compared to manufactured Youtube videos where the creator can easily reshoot multiple times to get the desired reaction. Fan interaction is also important. Danteh, who is a player on the San Francisco Shock for the Overwatch League, always responds to fans in his twitch chat who ask questions or comment about games occurring in the league. He always has something interesting to remark about the logistics about the current meta (current composition of heroes that is the most efficient) or how his team could improve during the tournament. Interactivity with viewers creates a human connection as if the creators are speaking with you and the realization that they are also a person that enjoys the same hobby or game.
Finally, Amazon directed more of its Prime members towards Twitch because of a new service released in late 2016 . As of September 2017, 90 million people in the United States are Amazon Prime members which allows them access to Twitch’s premium experience for free. The benefits of Twitch prime includes free in-game content, an ad-free experience, bonus games and a subscription to their favorite streamer. Many children who have parents with Amazon Prime can create an account and receive these perks. During a moment in Ninja’s stream when he had over 100,000 viewers, he asked them to see if they had a free Twitch Prime subscription available. Within seconds, the chat flooded with users using that free feature. With a free subscription, Ninja has received a rush of new subscribers who no longer need to pay the five dollar amount. Because of this, it can be used to directly support streamers and saves the person money. The current most watched game on Twitch is Fortnite, and they are offering exclusive Twitch Prime items. Many players of this game connect their Amazon account to their Twitch account to gain these cosmetic items and because of this, a huge amount of Twitch users from the popular game are introduced to the site. Last month, Twitch Prime offered unknown games like Superhot and Oxenfree as free games to its members, creating more value and interest while also promoting these small indie games.
Many argue that Youtube Gaming has a higher potential than Twitch and will outgrow the famous streaming site. However, Twitch has many qualities that make it stand out from its competitor. The statistics originating from both websites showcase how Twitch leaves Youtube Gaming in the dust with 260,000 to 80,000 monthly streamers. Both websites have a similar format with an advertisement break for revenue and viewer donations, however Twitch streamers have more opportunities to earn more money. Twitch has a partnership program where the most popular streamers (or partners) earn from monthly subscriptions. Subscriptions come in three tiers at a price of $4.99, $9.99 and $24.99 and more than 50% of the money would go towards a partner. Streaming on Twitch also increases the possibility of gaining sponsorships. Bits are also another way to that viewers use to subsidize streamers. The virtual good purchased with real money are used to cheer with an animated gif that can contain various alerts and sound effects, the colorful flashes help encourage others to purchase them. A streamer earns $1 for every 100 bits which is a large portion since every 100 bits is sold for $1.40. It is apparent that Youtube’s focus is more wired towards edited content than livestreaming while the whole focus of Twitch are live videos. Youtube is healthy competition for Twitch, however the Amazon owned site still dominates in the industry of live streaming.
To conclude, Twitch is making an impact on the world and will continue to grow its audience because of the growing esports industry, enjoyable content and its Twitch Prime service. It is important to understand why the company is flourishing and acknowledge that videos are expanding in different directions. Livestreams are a cultural phenomenon as the company is getting more recognition worldwide and I expect the growth of the website to be substantial.
Note: This article was written for my high school class in 2017
