Twitch (service) facts for kids
 |
|
|
Screenshot
Homepage in February 2023
|
|
| Type of business | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
|
Type of site
|
|
| Predecessor(s) | Justin.tv |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Founder(s) |
|
| Key people |
|
| Parent | Amazon |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | June 6, 2011 |
| Current status | Active |
Twitch is a popular online service where people can watch and share live videos. It's mostly known for showing live video games, including big esports (competitive gaming) events. But it also has channels for music, creative arts, and "in real life" streams, where people share their daily activities. Twitch is run by Twitch Interactive, which is part of the big company Amazon.
Twitch started in June 2011. It was a spin-off from another streaming site called Justin.tv. You can watch videos on Twitch live as they happen, or you can watch recordings later. The games featured on Twitch's homepage are chosen based on what viewers like most. These include many types of games, like strategy games, fighting games, racing games, and first-person shooters.
Twitch quickly became very popular. By October 2013, 45 million different people watched videos on the site. In February 2014, it was one of the biggest sources of internet traffic in the United States. In August 2014, Amazon bought Twitch for about $970 million. This helped Twitch grow even more, especially by working with Amazon's subscription service, Amazon Prime.
By 2015, Twitch had over 100 million viewers every month. It remained the top live-streaming service for video games in the US. As of February 2020, three million people were broadcasting on Twitch each month. It had 15 million active users every day, with 1.4 million people watching at the same time on average. By October 2023, Twitch was the 37th most visited website in the world. Most of its viewers are from the United States, Germany, and South Korea. However, Twitch announced it would stop working in South Korea in 2024 because it was too expensive to operate there.
Contents
Twitch's Journey: From Start to Now
How Twitch Began and Grew (2007–2013)
Justin.tv was launched in 2007 by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear. They were two friends who had just finished college. The website had different sections for various types of content. The gaming section quickly became the most popular part of the site.
In June 2011, the company decided to create a separate service just for gaming videos. They called it TwitchTV. The name was inspired by "twitch gameplay," which means fast-paced gaming. TwitchTV officially started on June 6, 2011. Since then, Twitch has attracted more than 35 million different viewers each month. By December 2013, the company had grown to 100 employees.
Twitch received a lot of money from investors to help it grow. This included $15 million in 2012 and $20 million in 2013. By 2013, many believed the company was making a profit.
After a competitor called Own3d.tv shut down in early 2013, Twitch became the most popular service for streaming esports. Other video sites like YouTube tried to compete by showing more gaming content. But Twitch remained far ahead. By mid-2013, over 43 million people watched Twitch every month. The average viewer watched about an hour and a half each day. By February 2014, Twitch was the fourth largest source of internet traffic in the United States during busy times.
In late 2013, some users in Europe experienced slow video and low quality. Twitch fixed this by adding new servers in that region. They also updated their video system to work better.
Growing Bigger and Joining Amazon (2014–Present)
On February 10, 2014, the company that owned Twitch (Justin.tv, Inc.) changed its name to Twitch Interactive. This showed that Twitch was now the main focus of the company. That same month, a special stream called Twitch Plays Pokémon became very popular. In this stream, many people worked together to play the game Pokémon Red. They did this by typing commands into the chat, and the game would follow their instructions. This stream showed how video games could be a platform for new kinds of entertainment.
Twitch also became the official live-streaming platform for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), a huge video game event.
On August 5, 2014, the original Justin.tv website closed down. This was so the company could focus all its efforts on Twitch. The next day, Twitch updated its video system. This new system made it easier to save and manage past broadcasts. However, full past broadcasts could only be saved for a limited time. Twitch also added a system to mute audio in recorded videos if it detected copyrighted music.
On August 25, 2014, Amazon bought Twitch Interactive for $970 million. This was a big deal for Twitch. Emmett Shear, one of Twitch's founders, continued to be the CEO. He liked that Amazon had strong connections with big media companies. This could help Twitch get more content.
In December 2014, Twitch bought GoodGame Agency, a company that owned esports teams. In March 2015, Twitch reset all user passwords. This happened after someone got unauthorized access to some user information.
In June 2016, Twitch added a new feature called "Cheering." This lets viewers buy special emoticons called "Bits" to support their favorite streamers. Bits are bought with real money, and cheering acts like a donation. Viewers also earn special badges for cheering a lot.
On August 16, 2016, Twitch bought Curse LLC, a company that ran online gaming communities. In September 2016, Twitch launched Twitch Prime. This service gives special features to people who have an Amazon Prime subscription. These features include watching streams without ads, getting free in-game items, and game discounts.
In December 2016, Twitch introduced a tool called AutoMod. This tool helps moderate chat by using smart technology to find and hold back unwanted messages for human review. In February 2017, Twitch launched the Twitch Game Store. This allowed users to buy digital games directly from the site. Streamers could also earn a small commission if viewers bought games through their links.
In August 2017, Twitch bought ClipMine, a company that helps index videos.
In August 2018, Twitch changed its policy for Amazon Prime subscribers. They no longer got ad-free access to the whole service. This feature now required a separate "Twitch Turbo" subscription or a subscription to individual channels. In November 2018, Twitch stopped its Game Store service. They found it wasn't helping streamers earn as much money as they hoped.
In September 2019, Twitch bought the Internet Games Database (IGDb). This database helps Twitch improve its search features. On September 26, 2019, Twitch revealed a new logo and a fresh look for its website.
In May 2020, Twitch created a Safety Advisory Council. This group helps make rules for moderation and supports different communities on the platform. In August 2020, Twitch Prime was renamed Prime Gaming to fit better with other Amazon Prime services.
In May 2021, Twitch added over 350 new tags to help categorize streams. These new tags included more specific options for gender identity and disabilities.
On October 6, 2021, Twitch experienced a large data leak. An anonymous hacker shared a lot of Twitch's internal information online. Twitch confirmed the leak and said it was due to a server problem. As a safety step, Twitch reset all stream keys.
On August 23, 2022, Twitch announced that streamers no longer had to stream only on Twitch. They could now stream on other platforms too. However, streaming on Twitch and other "Twitch-like" platforms at the exact same time was still not allowed.
In September 2022, Twitch announced changes to how much money large streamers earn from subscriptions. Most streamers get 50% of subscription revenue. But some very large streamers had a special deal to get 70%. The new rule, starting June 1, 2023, meant these top streamers would get 70% for the first $100,000 earned from subscriptions. After that, their share would drop to 50%. This change caused some criticism from streamers.
In March 2023, Dan Clancy became the new CEO of Twitch. The previous CEO, Emmett Shear, stepped down after 16 years. Also in March 2023, Twitch announced it would be laying off 400 employees as part of larger layoffs at Amazon.
On June 6, 2023, Twitch announced new rules for sponsored content in streams. These rules limited the size of sponsor logos and banned certain types of ads. Many streamers were upset by these changes, saying they would hurt their relationships with sponsors. Twitch quickly took back the new rules and said they would clarify them. They explained that the rules were meant to stop third-party ad networks from selling certain ads, not to limit streamers' direct deals with sponsors.
In October 2023, Twitch started adding "stories" to its mobile app, similar to other social media platforms. At TwitchCon 2023, Twitch announced updates to its "Stream Together" feature. This would allow merged chat rooms and let streamers simulcast (stream at the same time) on competing platforms like YouTube, unless their contract said otherwise.
On December 6, 2023, Twitch announced it would leave the South Korea market by February 27, 2024. This was because of the very high costs of operating there. In February 2024, Twitch was also fined by the Korea Telecommunications Commission for reducing its service quality in the country.
In January 2024, Twitch announced another round of layoffs, affecting 500 employees. This was part of ongoing job cuts in the technology and digital media industries.
What You Can Watch on Twitch
Twitch is a platform for many types of content. This includes esports tournaments, individual players streaming their games, and talk shows about gaming. Many channels also show live speedrunning, where players try to finish games as fast as possible. The Twitch homepage shows games that are currently most popular with viewers. Some of the most watched games on Twitch include Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto V, League of Legends, and Dota 2.
Twitch has also expanded beyond just gaming. In July 2013, the site streamed a performance from San Diego Comic-Con. In January 2015, Twitch added a special category for music streams. This includes radio shows and people making music. In March 2015, Twitch became the official live-streaming partner for the Ultra Music Festival, a big electronic music event.
On October 28, 2015, Twitch launched a "Creative" category. This is for streams that show people making art or other creative works. To celebrate, Twitch streamed an eight-day marathon of Bob Ross' The Joy of Painting. In July 2016, Twitch added "Social eating," inspired by the Korean trend of mukbang.
In March 2017, Twitch added an "IRL" (In Real Life) category. This is for content that doesn't fit into other categories, like daily life vlogs. While gaming still makes up most of Twitch's content, the "Just Chatting" category (which includes conversations and reality-style shows) became the most watched category in December 2019.
In 2020, Thrillist described Twitch as "talk radio for the extremely online". In 2021, Business Insider noted that Twitch leads in live content, with 17 billion hours watched. However, most gaming content is still watched on demand, where YouTube is the leader.
Learning on Twitch
Twitch is often used for video game tutorials. Its live nature allows many learners to interact with each other and the teacher in real time. Twitch is also used for learning software development. Communities of users stream their programming projects and explain their work as they go.
Charity Events
Many broadcasters on Twitch host streams to raise money for charity. By 2013, events on Twitch had raised over $8 million for good causes. As of 2017, Twitch had helped raise over $75 million for charities. The biggest charity event on Twitch is ZEvent, a French project that raised more than $10 million for Action Against Hunger in October 2021.
Esports on Twitch
.jpeg)
Twitch has been a major platform for esports tournaments for a long time. ESL tournaments and the Evolution Championship Series have been shown on Twitch since 2009.
Twitch has been the official broadcaster for the League of Legends World Championship since 2012. It also streams other League of Legends tournaments. The biggest Dota 2 tournament, The International, has been live-streamed on Twitch since 2013.
Rocket League tournaments and ELeague events have also been broadcast on Twitch since 2016.
In June 2017, Twitch and Blizzard Entertainment made a two-year deal. This made Twitch the only place to stream certain Blizzard esports events. Viewers with Twitch Prime could also get special rewards in Blizzard games. Twitch also partnered with the Overwatch League in 2018.
Fortnite Battle Royale competitions have been shown on Twitch since 2017. This includes the E3 2018 Fortnite Pro-Am and the 2019 Fortnite World Cup. The NBA 2K League has been live-streamed on Twitch since it started in 2018.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many real-life motorsports events were stopped. So, several racing series started online "sim racing" competitions with real drivers. Some of these had official broadcasts on Twitch, like Formula One and IMSA. Many drivers also streamed their own races on Twitch.
Professional Sports on Twitch
In December 2017, the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced that it would stream NBA G League games on Twitch. These broadcasts included interactive stats and extra streams with commentary from Twitch personalities.
In April 2018, Twitch started carrying eleven National Football League Thursday Night Football games. These were shown at the same time as on TV. Twitch also offered different broadcasts, including ones hosted by Twitch personalities. When Thursday Night Football moved only to Amazon Prime Video in 2022, Twitch continued to show the games and offer alternate broadcasts.
In January 2019, professional wrestling company Impact Wrestling announced it would stream its weekly show Impact! on Twitch.
On September 5, 2019, the Premier Hockey Federation made a three-year deal with Twitch. This covered all their games and league events. The deal also shared revenue with the players.
On June 20, 2020, Twitch streamed some Premier League soccer matches in the United Kingdom. This was part of Amazon Prime Video's local rights to the league.
On July 22, 2020, Twitch officially launched a Sports category. This mainly hosts content streamed by sports leagues and teams.
The 2021 Copa América football tournament was shown in Spain on Twitch. This was through a partnership with a media company and a streamer.
Twitch Emotes
Twitch has many emotes, which are small pictures used in chat. Some emotes are free for everyone. Others are for users with Twitch Turbo or Twitch Prime, or for those who subscribe to a streamer. As of October 2015, Kappa was the most used emote on Twitch. Streamers who are Twitch Partners can unlock more emote slots for their subscribers.
On January 6, 2021, Twitch removed the PogChamp emote. This emote was used to show excitement. The decision was made because of comments from the person whose face was on the emote. Twitch said it would work with the community to find a new emote. Later, Twitch decided to have a new PogChamp emote every 24 hours. On February 12, viewers chose KomodoHype as the new permanent PogChamp emote.
People on Twitch: Streamers and Viewers
Streamers: The Content Creators
.jpg)
Streamers are the people who create content and broadcast live on Twitch. Ninja was one of Twitch's most famous streamers, with over 14 million followers. In August 2019, he announced he would stream only on a competitor site called Mixer. After Ninja left, some of the top streamers were Tfue, Shroud, and TSM Myth.
Twitch then started signing special deals with popular streamers in December 2019. These deals meant the streamers would broadcast only on Twitch. Some of the first to sign were DrLupo, TimTheTatman, and Lirik. In March 2020, Dr DisRespect also signed a multi-year deal. However, on June 26, 2020, Dr DisRespect was banned from Twitch for reasons that were not explained. After Mixer closed in July 2020, both Ninja and Shroud returned to stream exclusively on Twitch.
As of August 2022, eight streamers have had over 100,000 active subscribers at one time. These include Ninja, Shroud, Ranboo, Ludwig, Casimiro, Ironmouse, Gaules, and Ibai. In April 2021, Ludwig Ahgren streamed non-stop for a month and broke the record for the most subscribers. He reached over 282,000 subscribers.
A report in October 2021 showed that the top-earning Twitch creators were Critical Role (a group of voice actors playing D&D), xQc, and Summit1g. The report also noted that very few women were among the highest-earning Twitch creators.
In August 2021, DrLupo left Twitch for an exclusive deal with YouTube. TimTheTatman followed in September 2021, and Ludwig Ahgren in November 2021. Some streamers moved to YouTube because Twitch was offering lower deals and required more streaming hours. YouTube's contracts often started at 100 hours per month, while Twitch's started at 200.
Users: The Viewers
In the early 2010s, a typical Twitch viewer was often a male aged 18 to 34. However, Twitch has tried to attract other groups, including women. By 2015, Twitch had over 100 million viewers each month. In 2017, it was still the leading live-streaming service for video games in the US.
As of February 2020, Twitch had 15 million active users every day. A study in 2017 found that users watched Twitch mainly "to be entertained," "to follow gaming events," and to "have an alternative for television."
Twitch allows anyone to watch a live broadcast without logging in. Users can also "follow" streamers for free, which is like subscribing on other platforms. This lets them see their favorite streamers on their homepage and get notifications. Users can also "subscribe" to streamers for a monthly fee, which financially supports the streamer. In return, subscribers often get special emoticons and chat privileges. Users who link their Twitch account to their Amazon Prime account get one free subscription each month to give to a streamer.
Twitch's rules say that people under 13 years old cannot use its services. If you are between 13 and 18, you can only use Twitch with a parent or guardian's permission and supervision.
Partner and Affiliate Programs
In July 2011, Twitch started its Partner Program. This program allows popular content creators to share in the money earned from ads on their streams. Twitch users can also subscribe to Partnered streamers' channels for $4.99 a month. Twitch keeps $2.49 of each subscription, and the streamer gets the rest. To become a Partner, streamers used to need an average of 500+ viewers and a regular streaming schedule. Now, there's a clearer "Path to Partnership" with goals for viewership and streaming time.
In April 2017, Twitch launched its "Affiliate Program." This allows smaller channels to earn money too. Affiliates can also make money from "Cheering" with Bits. They also get access to the subscription feature, similar to Partners. In September 2019, Affiliates also started getting a share of ad revenue.
Twitch displays ads on streams for users who don't have ad-free access. These include ads shown before a stream starts and commercial breaks that streamers can trigger. In September 2020, Twitch began testing automated ad breaks that streamers could not control.
Rules and Restrictions on Twitch
Copyrighted Content
On August 6, 2014, Twitch started using special software to detect copyrighted music in recorded videos. If copyrighted music was found, that part of the video would be muted for 30 minutes. This rule did not apply to live broadcasts. Twitch also offered a selection of music that streamers could use without worrying about copyright. This change was not popular with users, partly because Twitch didn't warn them beforehand.
In June 2020, Twitch received many copyright notices for old videos and "clips" (short parts of streams) that contained copyrighted music. Twitch removed these videos and gave copyright warnings to streamers. This caused a lot of frustration because streamers found it hard to remove all old content quickly.
In September 2020, Twitch introduced an extension called "Soundtrack." This plays music that is cleared for use and is not recorded with the main video. This helps streamers play music without copyright issues.
Extremist Content
In 2021, reports showed that Twitch was being used by some extremist groups and far-right influencers. These groups sometimes shared content that became popular before being removed.
Where Twitch is Blocked
As of September 2018, the Twitch website and app are blocked in China.
In India, Twitch was reportedly blocked by some internet providers in September 2020. This was because some users were illegally streaming Indian Premier League cricket matches on the platform.
Slovakia's government reportedly blocked Twitch in June 2021. This happened after a streamer was found streaming poker, which broke local gambling laws.
On July 4, 2022, the Iranian government blocked access to Twitch for internet users in Iran.
On February 23, 2024, Twitch was blocked in Turkey due to a complaint from the country's lotteries commission. It was reopened six days later.
How to Watch and Broadcast on Twitch
Twitch wants to be available on "every platform where people watch video." You can watch Twitch streams using its website in a web browser. There are also special apps for mobile phones, smart TVs, and video game consoles.
This includes:
- Twitch's mobile apps for Android, Fire OS, and iOS.
- Twitch's apps for Fire TV, LG TVs, Samsung TVs (2020 and newer), Android TV, Apple TV, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
- The Twitch Desktop App for Windows and macOS is no longer supported.
- Older apps for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, and older Samsung TVs are also no longer supported.
You can broadcast to Twitch from these platforms:
- Twitch's mobile apps for Android, Fire OS, and iOS.
- OBS Open Source Broadcasting Studio Software.
- Twitch Studio app for Windows and macOS.
- Built-in features on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and NVIDIA Shield devices.
- Other apps for desktop like OBS, Streamlabs Desktop, and NVIDIA GeForce Experience.
- In-game features in games like Eve Online and PlanetSide 2.
Twitch Desktop App and CurseForge
After buying Curse LLC, Twitch renamed the Curse app to the Twitch Desktop App in March 2017. This app helped manage game mods through CurseForge. It also had features like screen sharing, text chat, and voice chat. The app also served as the client for the old Twitch Game Store.
On June 22, 2020, Twitch sold CurseForge to another company called Overwolf. On December 2, 2020, the mod management features were removed from the Twitch Desktop App. These features can now be found in Overwolf's CurseForge app.
On March 30, 2022, Twitch announced it would stop supporting the Twitch Desktop App on April 30, 2022. They suggested users use a web browser to access Twitch on computers instead.
TwitchCon: The Fan Event
TwitchCon is a big event for Twitch fans and the streaming community. It happens twice a year. The first event was held in San Francisco in September 2015. Since then, TwitchCon has been an annual event. It has been held in different cities like San Diego and Long Beach, California. In 2019, TwitchCon expanded and held its first European event in Berlin. TwitchCon events planned for 2020 were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Images for kids
-
Homepage in February 2023
-
