Twitch continues to dominate the Game Streaming Service

Video game streaming has become a bigger entertainment on the internet. There are so many different games to watch, personalities, and styles of playing. As game streaming has become more popular, more alternate streaming sites have showed up. YouTube Game Streaming has been around for a few years but recently Google shut down YouTube Gaming because it confused users. Facebook Gaming is the newest competitor and it can connect already fans of the games to streamers. Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, is the most popular service. Most of the audience data comes from StreamElements. StreamElements is a new growing streaming service. It started back in late 2017 and it allows streamers to show games through multiple channels; including Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook. It also has a professional interface and helps provide useful data to streamers.

Who has the biggest audience?

According to the Wall-Street Journal, Twitch maintains the highest amount of game audience with 70% of hours watched among all services. 2nd is YouTube which had 19.5% of audiences according to StreamElements. Facebook Gaming has approximately 5% while Microsoft Mixer has 3%.

It will be interesting to see if the other platforms can take more of an percentage from Twitch. The platform still has the easiest streaming service, search functions, and most importantly: a dedicated gaming audience. While there are many people use YouTube and Facebook, a huge percentage aren’t dedicated or people who enjoy games. Twitch started with a core audience in mind and has continually improved their services for viewers. Many online personalities also have their core audience on Twitch. Unless the company does something horrendous that would deter the personalities, I think Twitch will remain top dog.

 

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Steam announces Game Streaming Services

Steam has announced their own game streaming service today. The service is currently in prototype for Android, Raspberry Pi, and Steam Link devices. It will allow you to stream your games from any device as long as you have a strong internet connection rather than Steam Link which was only for home networks.

With Steam being the biggest distributor for PC gaming, it has a strong advantage against Epic, Discord and potentially Google’s streaming service. More announcements on the service will be announced at GDC next week.

 

Twitch Prime Users will receive Ads

When Amazon purchased Twitch in 2014, they aimed to provide features for their Prime members. When your Amazon Prime account connects with your Twitch account, you can download free content for PC games, games themselves, and the ability to subscribe to one Twitch streamer for free for one month.

When will I see ads again?

Starting September 14th, any new Twitch Prime members will start receiving ads. If you have a monthly plan for Amazon Prime, then ads will show on October 15th. If you’re an annual user, ads will appear after your renewal period. Nothing else is changing with the Prime plan. You will still receive a free subscription each month and free games and content.

Image result for twitch prime

Why enable ads?

Similar to the YouTube platform, having ads on streams help support the streamer. While Prime membership gives you a free subscription, it mostly supports Amazon, not the Twitch streamer itself. The free subscription still gives the streamers $5 but ads help streamers earn more. According to CNBC, some streamers can earn averages about $250 per 100 subscribers due to ads. Twitch prides itself on supporting its community and most streamers weren’t earning much from Prime viewers unless they used their free subscriptions.

Are you disappointed to have ads with Twitch Prime?

Sources

Twitch

CNBC