What is Twitch? Twitch Review

introduce

Twitch is a live streaming video platform for video games. It was co-founded by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear in San Francisco in June 2011. It is an independently operated site under Justin.tv that focuses on game-related content.

Founder Introduction

Twitch's predecessor was Justin.tv, which had four founders: Justin Kan, Kyle Vogt, Emmett Shear, and Micheal Seikel. Justin Kan and Emmett Shear were friends since childhood, attending the same elementary school, and both liked math and the card game Magic: The Gathering. Later, the two became Yale alumni. Their first startup project was Kiko, an application similar to Google Calendar.

Basic Overview

Twitch is a game video live streaming platform where users can watch the host's game situation in real time. Not only can they learn game skills from other players, but they can also see the game competition situation. Therefore, Twitch has become a gathering place for game players. In addition, there are some game-related live streaming channels on Twitch, such as game music, drawings and talk shows.

Twitch is not only popular among gamers, but also profitable for them. Players can easily broadcast their real-time gaming status on Twitch. If the broadcaster can attract a large number of viewers on his game channel, he can make money.

Profit Model

First, users can purchase the monthly paid “Turbo” plan, which, in addition to eliminating advertisements, also provides exclusive chat area markers, picture magic wands, and personalized emoticons. The fee is $89.99 per year or $8.99 per month.

The second is the subscription fee. Anchors certified by Twitch can turn on the Subscriber mode. If other users want to watch related videos, they have to pay Twitch a monthly subscription fee of US$5. The revenue is shared by the anchor and the platform.

The third is advertising revenue. There are advertisements in the intervals between live game matches, on the website homepage, and in the blank spaces of game videos. Most of the advertising revenue belongs to Twitch. Only when there are advertisements in the game videos posted by individuals will a portion of it belong to the anchor himself. In addition, Twitch also earns a certain amount of revenue from product promotion activities in cooperation with game equipment manufacturers and offline activities in cooperation with well-known game developers.

Development History

Twitch's predecessor, Justin.tv, was founded in 2007 by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear, and the gaming section grew rapidly and became the most popular content.

On April 17, 2012, Twitch announced a partnership with CBS Interactive, an interactive media company under the Columbia Broadcasting Corporation, which owns two well-known professional game information websites, GameSpot and Giant Bomb. CBS Interactive began to sell advertising exclusively for Twitch.

In June 2011, the parent company decided to separate the gaming segment and establish Twitch.tv independently. The public beta version was launched on June 6. At this time, Twitch already attracted more than 35 million visitors per month.

In 2012 and 2013, Twitch received venture capital of US$15 million and US$20 million respectively, and the platform began to make a profit in 2013.

Also in 2013, Twitch's main competitor, Own3d.tv, shut down, and Twitch formed a near-monopoly in the field of e-sports and game live streaming. Although video sites such as YouTube and Dailymotion are becoming increasingly competitive in game content, their impact is still far less than that of Twitch.

By mid-2013, Twitch had an average of 43 million viewers per month, with users spending an average of more than an hour per day on the platform.

In February 2014, Twitch became the fourth largest source of traffic during peak hours on the US Internet, behind Netflix, Google, and Apple, accounting for 1.8% of total traffic.

In May 2014, it was reported that Google proposed to acquire Twitch for $1 billion, but the deal was ultimately not reached due to concerns about Google's YouTube platform.

On August 25, 2014, Amazon announced that it would acquire Twitch for $970 million, and the transaction was finally completed on September 25. Emmett Shear continued to serve as CEO.

On May 1, 2012, Twitch won the "Webby Award".

On June 5, 2013, Twitch announced the establishment of Twitch Media Group, which is Twitch's internal advertising sales team and took over CBS Interactive's advertising sales business.

In May 2015, Twitch reset all user account passwords and disabled external links to Twitter and YouTube following reports that Twitch user information had been accessed without authorization.

In August 2016, Amazon's live video streaming platform Twitch acquired the famous online gaming media company Curse. However, the specific details of the acquisition were not announced.

On September 30, 2016, the Twitch Prime feature was launched, including ad-free services, subscription discounts, and game purchase discounts, exclusively for Amazon Prime users.

In June 2020, Amazon's video website Twitch temporarily banned US President Donald Trump from speaking on its platform on Monday, citing inappropriate content in his posts.

References

• 1. Twitch.tv: Wikipedia [cited on 2018-07-07T16:00:00.000Z]
• 2. Twitch: A rare off-site traffic diversion tool: Cross-border Knowledge [cited on 2018-05-29T16:00:00.000Z]
• 3. Amazon's video website Twitch temporarily suspends Trump's account: offensive content : Baijiahao [cited on 2020-06-28T16:00:00.000Z]