Twitch is a popular video live streaming service. It is functioned by a subsidiary of Amazon named Twitch Interactive. The company was formed as derivative of another streaming platform, “Justin.tv” that focuses mainly on live streaming of video games that includes broadcasts of creative content, eSports competitions, music broadcasts, and real-life streams. Twitch has over 100 million monthly viewers, 2.2 million broadcasters, and around 27,000 partner channels. The company is counted among the top live streaming video service provider in the US.
Inception
Twitch was founded in June 2011 as a live video streaming service platform for worldwide users. With the growing popularity of Twitch, it has become a top-rated e-sports streaming service provider firm. It competes with other video services, like Dailymotion and YouTube. In 2014, the company was considered to be the largest source of online traffic at peak times in the US. Netflix, Apple, and Google occupied the first three places. Twitch is popular Live streaming and streaming video website that operates all across the world. The company was founded by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear (CEO).
Evolution
In 2013, looking at the increasing viewership, the company added new servers in their area of operation. It also implemented a strong and more efficient video system to provide ultra-fast streaming of videos, devoid of any interruption with broadcaster and viewer.
In 2014, Twitch became the official live streaming video service platform of the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
On August 25, 2014, the leading e-commerce service provider firm “Amazon” acquired “Twitch Interactive” for $970 million. Shear continued to serve as the CEO. In January 2018, Sara Clemens was appointed as COO (chief operating officer).
In 2014, Twitch declared that it had acquired an organization “GoodGame Agency” that is the owner of the “Alliance” and “Evil Geniuses.”
In August 2016, the company acquired Curse, Inc that operates e- video gaming communities.
In September 2016, Twitch declared a new service as “Twitch Prime” that offers premium features that are only made available to those users who possess an active Amazon Prime subscription.
In 2016, a partially automated chat moderation device named “AutoMod” was introduced. It is based on machine learning, and natural language processing to prevent unwanted website content for human review.
In 2017, a new online distribution platform as Twitch Game Store was introduced that expose online purchases of video games in the browsing interface of the website.
Blizzard Entertainment and Twitch entered into two years of contract in June 2017. Twitch became an exclusive streaming service broadcaster of Blizzard eSports championship events.
In 2017, Twitch acquired “ClipMine,” a video indexing platform.
In August 2018, Twitch stopped the advertising-free access of its services to Amazon Prime subscribers.
In 2018, Twitch introduced a new extension as “Amazon Blacksmith” that enabled broadcaster to organize product display linked with their video streams with Amazon affiliate links.
Twitch also acquired IGB “Internet Games Database” to catalogue all the details of video games in 2019. Twitch decided to implement database service for enhancing its internal search features and assist users in locating the game in which they are interested easily.
In September 2019, Twitch revealed its new logo and new website design that was accompanied by a newly developed advertising campaign. The campaign aims at promoting the community members of the platform.
With the growing popularity and use, Twitch streaming applications are made to be cross-compatible. Users can now operate these applications on their video game consoles, and mobile devices that include iOS, Android, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Xbox One video game consoles. Users of Twitch application can stream from Mac, Linux OS, or PC, either using a stand-alone software “Open Broadcaster Software” or via a platform “EA’s Origin software.”
Awards & Achievements
Net Worth of Twitch in 2024
As of December 2024, The present net worth of the company is projected to be $6 billion. Over the years, Twitch has gained enormous wealth, and the major source of it is the Live streaming of video games. In addition to it, the company has also signed several contracts from different leading firms in the market that have contributed to its massive wealth.
Twitch is the leading live streaming platform and community for fans and gamers in the world. With this service, users from all around the globe can enjoy playing their favourite video games. It is an ideal platform to broadcast or watch live streaming or pre-recorded videos of the gameplay of broadcaster. Presently, an average of 1.6 million viewers tunes into this platform daily.