Twitch (service) facts for kids
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Homepage in November 2024
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| Type of business | Subsidiary |
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Type of site
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| Predecessor(s) | Justin.tv |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Founder(s) |
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| Key people | |
| Parent | Amazon |
| IPv6 support | No |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | June 6, 2011 |
| Current status | Active |
Twitch is an American website for video live-streaming. It is very popular for watching people play video games, including big esports competitions. People also use it to stream music, creative projects like drawing, and "in real life" (IRL) streams. Twitch is owned by Amazon.
The website was launched in June 2011. It was created from another streaming website called Justin.tv. On Twitch, you can watch streams as they are happening live, or you can watch recorded videos later, which is called video on demand. The games you see on the homepage are usually the ones with the most viewers. These include popular genres like first-person shooters and racing games.
Twitch quickly became more popular than Justin.tv. By 2014, it was one of the biggest sources of internet traffic in the United States. That same year, Amazon bought Twitch for $970 million. This led to new features that connected Twitch with Amazon's other services, like Amazon Prime.
By 2015, Twitch had over 100 million viewers every month. It became the top streaming service for video games in the U.S., ahead of its competitors. As of early 2020, Twitch had 15 million people using it every day.
Contents
History of Twitch
How It All Started
In 2007, Justin Kan and Emmett Shear started a website called Justin.tv. The site had different categories for videos, but the gaming section grew the fastest. It became so popular that the company decided to create a new website just for gaming.
They called it TwitchTV, inspired by the term twitch gameplay, which means fast-reaction gaming. Twitch launched on June 6, 2011. It quickly attracted millions of viewers.
Because the site was growing so fast, the company that owned Justin.tv changed its name to Twitch Interactive in 2014. This showed that Twitch was now their main focus. Soon after, the old Justin.tv website was shut down so the company could focus all its energy on Twitch.
Joining with Amazon
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On August 25, 2014, a huge change happened: Amazon bought Twitch for $970 million. This was a big deal because it showed how important live-streaming had become. Being part of Amazon helped Twitch grow even more, using Amazon's powerful technology to improve the streaming experience for everyone.
Under Amazon, Twitch added new features. One of the most popular was "Cheering," where viewers can support streamers by buying special emotes called "Bits." Another big addition was Twitch Prime (now called Prime Gaming). If you have an Amazon Prime subscription, you get special perks on Twitch, like free games and a free subscription to a channel each month.
Over the years, Twitch has continued to grow and add new features. In 2019, it revealed a new logo and a fresh design for its website. The company also started signing deals with famous streamers to have them stream only on Twitch.
What to Watch on Twitch
Twitch is a place for all kinds of content, especially things related to gaming. You can watch esports tournaments, personal streams from individual players, and talk shows about video games. Many channels also feature speedrunning, where players try to beat a game as fast as possible.
Some of the most-watched games on Twitch include Fortnite, League of Legends, Grand Theft Auto V, and Minecraft.
More Than Just Games
Twitch has also grown to include a lot of non-gaming content.
- Music: In 2015, Twitch added a category for music streams. You can watch live concerts, DJ sets, and even see musicians creating new songs in their studios.
- Creative: The "Creative" category was launched for artists and makers. People stream themselves drawing, painting, sculpting, and doing other creative projects. To launch this category, Twitch famously streamed a marathon of Bob Ross's show The Joy of Painting.
- IRL and Just Chatting: In 2017, Twitch added an "IRL" (In Real Life) category for streams that don't fit anywhere else, like vlogs or travel streams. This later became the "Just Chatting" category, which is now one of the most popular on the site. Here, streamers just talk with their audience about anything and everything.
Helping Charities
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Many streamers use their channels to do good. They often host charity streams to raise money for different causes. By 2017, the Twitch community had raised over $75 million for charities.
One of the most famous charity events on Twitch is Games Done Quick. It's a speedrunning marathon held twice a year that raises millions of dollars for organizations like Doctors Without Borders.
Esports and Sports
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Twitch is the main place to watch competitive gaming, also known as esports. It broadcasts major tournaments for games like League of Legends, Dota 2, and Rocket League.
In recent years, Twitch has also started streaming traditional sports. You can watch games from the NBA G League (the NBA's minor league) and even some National Football League (NFL) games. This brings a new kind of content to the platform and allows sports fans to chat and react together in real-time.
Creators and Viewers
Who Are the Streamers?
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The people who broadcast on Twitch are called "streamers" or "creators." Some streamers have become very famous and have millions of followers. One of the most well-known streamers is Ninja, who became famous for playing Fortnite. Other popular streamers include Pokimane, xQc, and Ibai.
Some streamers sign special deals to broadcast only on Twitch. This means their fans can only watch them on this platform.
How Streamers Earn Money
Twitch offers programs that let streamers earn money from their channels.
- Affiliate Program: This is the first step for smaller channels to start earning money. Affiliates can earn money when viewers "Cheer" with Bits or subscribe to their channel.
- Partner Program: This is for larger, more established channels. Partners get more benefits, like a share of the money from ads shown on their stream and more custom emotes for their subscribers.
Viewers can support their favorite streamers by subscribing to their channel for a monthly fee. Subscribing often gives viewers special perks, like unique emotes they can use in chat and a special badge next to their name.
Rules on Twitch
Twitch has rules to keep the community safe and friendly. These are called the Community Guidelines.
Content Rules
Twitch does not allow streams of games that are rated "Adults Only" (AO) by the ESRB. It also has rules against content that is hateful or very violent. Sometimes, Twitch will ban specific games from being streamed if they break these rules.
Copyright Rules
Streamers have to be careful about using copyrighted material, especially music. If a streamer plays a popular song they don't have the rights to, the recorded video of their stream might have its audio muted. To help with this, Twitch created "Soundtrack by Twitch," a library of music that is safe for streamers to use.
Keeping the Community Safe
Twitch has rules against harassment and hateful behavior. The company has a team of moderators and automated tools to help enforce these rules. In recent years, Twitch has updated its policies to be more clear about what is not allowed, in order to protect its users.
One feature on Twitch is called a "raid," where a streamer sends all of their viewers to another channel to show support. However, some people have used this feature for "hate raids," where they send bots to harass a streamer. Twitch has been working on new tools to help streamers protect themselves from this kind of behavior.
TwitchCon
TwitchCon is a big event held for the Twitch community. It's a place where streamers, viewers, and game developers can all meet in person. The first TwitchCon was held in San Francisco in 2015.
Since then, it has become a regular event, usually held in North America and Europe. At TwitchCon, there are panels, meet-and-greets with famous streamers, and areas to try out new games. The events were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic but have since returned.
See also
In Spanish: Twitch para niños
- List of social networking services
- Kick, a similar livestreaming service
