On August 25, 2014 the world of mergers and acquisitions exploded over the news that Amazon had purchased Twitch for the sum of $970 million. In the preceding weeks, it had been largely rumored that Google would place the winning bid, as Google did the same for YouTube, in October 2006.
There has been much speculation as to why Google decided to back out of the race. Additionally, the hefty amount of cash Amazon is handing over for website has raised some eyebrows. However, for mainstream internet users, especially those who are not gamers, the billion dollar question is: What, in the World Wide Web, is Twitch?
Picture a cable network with over one million channels devoted to video games of every genre imaginable. Couple that with a dedicated community of gamers who can chat and live stream, and you have 45 million viewers watching 13 billion hours of gameplay video per month – or, Twitch.
So what are these 45 million people doing on Twitch? Just watching videos? Hardly. As in most cases with online communities, clicking around the site reveals that there is much more going on than meets the eye.
Far from passively watching live streams and recorded video, players and viewers are able to communicate with one another while enjoying whatever is happening on a channel. The channel owner can also provide in-game commentary, essentially taking on the roll of video jockey. In fact, while the main language used on Twitch is English, the Twitch community has gone as far as to develop its own side-lingo based on emojis and inside jokes. In streams of the Fighting Game Community (FGC), for example, a player who is upset over an in-game event is called a “Salt”.
Gamers can participate in massive online tournaments and rise to gaming super stardom. As the site’s About page boasts:
Twitch is home to the most dedicated and highly skilled gamers on the planet. They shatter world records. They cruise through the newest titles. They make headlines with world-first accomplishments, and they make it all look easy.
While hard-core gamers can get testy in the debate of which gaming platform is king, Twitch favors no one. The service is available across a wide array of platforms including PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and Xbox 360, and has opened the doors to mobile app integration .
And, if achieving super coolness isn’t a glorious enough accomplishment, Twitch provides another incentive for gamers to play and play well: profit via the Twitch Partner Program . To become a partner, all one has to do is sign up and provide proof of a potentially large viewership. Viewers can then subscribe to the channel for a small, monthly fee of $4.99.
As with most other websites, a Twitch partner may generate revenue through ads and referrals. In addition, virtually anyone can donate money to the host of their favorite channels.
While most donations are usually made in small amounts, sometimes incidents such as that involving the mysterious Amhai earlier this year, can mean that Christmas has come early for some players. Amhai, whose identity still remains a complete secret, has allegedly donated over $100,000 to players of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, in 5-10 thousand dollar increments.
Donations also provide a way for Twitch to host gaming for charity events. Gamer or not, who wouldn’t want to watch a live stream of comedy genius Will Farrell challenging some of the best gamers in the world to help children with cancer?
If donations aren’t really your thing then you might want to check out some of Twitch’s top streamers as ranked by Socialblade.com : Justin, leading with over 3 million followers; Syndicate and Riot Games with over a million fans each. These guys participate in tournaments and also stream masterful, and sometimes hilarious, gameplay of popular titles like Minecraft and League of Legends .
So, is Twitch worth almost $1 billion and does it deserve to be on TIME magazine’s list of 50 Best Websites 2014 ? We will let you be the judge. For a taste of the phenomena that is Twitch and the highly thrilling world of gaming in the Middle East, check out the tongue-in-cheek Power League Gaming, or MEGamingTV . The latter even has an accompanying subreddit, where you can meet other players within the region. Bear in mind that users who wish to broadcast their own channels and partake in live streaming events will need a minimum connection speed of 3 Mb/s for 720p resolution audio and video or 5 Mb/s for 1080p resolution video, which might be difficult in some areas of the Middle East .