What is Twitch?
Streaming occupies a very dominant place in the online world. And we're not talking about Netflix, Amazon Prime & Co. here, but about livestreaming by content creators who prefer to go live and broadcast content for their viewers from their own four walls. And even though the die-hard gaming community started broadcasting gameplay in video form a few years ago, the variety of topics is almost inexhaustible these days.
What began as niche entertainment for ESports fans is now a gigantic market teeming with creative entertainers and creators. The best-known platform for live streaming, and the most popular with both viewers and streamers, is Twitch. The Internet portal is one of the largest providers of video content and has fans and supporters all over the world.
If you say streaming, you also have to say Twitch - there's no way around it. It's been a long time since gaming content was exclusively shown by big and well-known personalities of the scene. On Twitch, anyone can go live and start their stream with just a few clicks and within minutes. As a result, 10 million people (Q3 2021) now use Twitch as an outlet for their creativity and stream regularly. In Q3 2021, viewers consumed around 5 billions hours of content and the average viewership spread across the platform is 2.6 million - and growing!
What YouTube is to VoD content, Twitch is to live content. The absolute top dog on the market and, with constant further development, certainly also one of the very big players on the Internet in the future. The Twitch family, as the platform operators like to call the community, keeps growing and what originally started as an El Dorado for gaming enthusiasts and nerds is about to replace live television forever with its meaningful and comprehensive features.
Twitch history
The history of Twitch
Nowadays, Twitch is a household name for almost everyone who regularly spends time on the Internet. But how did the huge platform become what it is today? The history of Twitch is as interesting as it is impressive. We'll tell you!
In 2007, an industrious Yale University student thought about what it would be like to have a website that broadcast live content 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A portal that would allow gamers to share their matches and gaming sessions with other people live and uncut. And so the young Justin Kan set to work and soon after launched a portal, which he, quite unbiased, named after himself. Justin.tv was born - the official predecessor of today's Twitch.
After an extremely successful start, Kan launched the sister site Twitch.tv 4 years later, in 2011. Here, the focus was primarily on gaming and esports content. In the early years, Twitch was the main place for gaming fans to watch their favorite teams compete against other teams. Multiplayer video games like Counter Strike, Dota or World of Warcraft were particularly popular at the time. The success and popularity of Twitch were so huge in the first few years that the platform's managers finally decided to discontinue Justin.tv and only continue with Twitch.tv. From then on, all resources and manpower were used for Twitch, which resulted in the fact that Twitch continued to develop over the years and also reached out beyond the boundaries of gaming.
New categories provided more variety on Twitch
For example, in the wake of the birthday of the well-known TV painter Bob Ross, a category called "Creative" was integrated into the website. Now even people who had nothing to do with video games could become active on Twitch and present their talents. But it wasn't just the website and the portal that continued to develop - the creators also became more creative over time and came up with new forms of entertainment, some of which they presented to viewers to perfection. New categories were added all the time, which ensured that the spectrum of content on offer became larger and larger. Creators and users alike, who were simply looking for appealing content, were drawn under the spell of Twitch.
Of course, a success of this magnitude doesn't go unnoticed in the entertainment industry, and while potential competing platforms have come and gone over the years, one of the biggest companies in the world quietly made Justin Kan and his partners an offer they couldn't refuse. In 2014, after an unprecedented rocket launch, Twitch was finally bought by none other than Amazon for around $1 billion. Twitch was now at the pinnacle of its history.
But it would turn out that Amazon's money and manpower would become the decisive boost for Twitch. And so Twitch, a platform once used exclusively by gamers and ESports fans, became a gigantic company that continues to grow today and is one of the leading providers of video content on the Internet.
TwitchCon
Since September 2015, an annual event has been organized by Twitch for the large Twitch community, both fans and creators. At TwitchCon, people of all stripes and ages regularly gather to celebrate their favorite platform in a unique event. Here, people who might have otherwise only communicated over the internet come together in persona to share stories about new trends in the scene, their favorite streamers, or topics that have nothing to do with Twitch at all. TwitchCon is the ultimate gathering for Twitch fans, and over time, various offshoots of the event have even sprung up. Initially launched in the US, TwitchCon now even takes place in Europe. TwitchCon Europe is a 2-day event that takes place once a year, while the USA version of the event is stretched to 3 days. So if you're a creator, fan or streaming enthusiast, TwitchCon is highly recommended.
What to do on Twitch
What can you do on Twitch?
Anyone who is on Twitch is literally flooded with content. But unlike traditional entertainment platforms such as television, Twitch is not just "more of the same" - a wide variety of personalities appear on camera with content that is only similar in nuances, if at all. On Twitch, everyone can do what they want to do.
Create live content
Twitch is a playground for creatives. The portal is known for unique live content and people are always finding new ways to entertain their viewers. You'll see many streamers on Twitch filming themselves playing video games. Here, the focus is mostly on the pure gameplay footage, while at the bottom of the image you can see the so-called face cam. This is pointed directly at the streamer and thus captures not only the best scenes of the game, but also the creator's reaction to them. In addition, the gameplay is usually commented live by means of a microphone. Despite the sheer number of video games out there, you'll still almost certainly find at least one streamer playing the game you're interested in.
But it's not just gaming that plays an important role on Twitch. More and more people are trying to make a name for themselves with content that has nothing to do with video games. Music producers, artists, dancers, singers and many other creatives broadcast their machinations live on Twitch. It doesn't matter if you're particularly talented at something. Twitch offers a platform to anyone who wants to let off steam. The concept of Twitch is that everyone is welcome - as long as you follow Twitch's guidelines when creating content.
Entertainment platform
Twitch is particularly interesting for consumers, i.e. viewers. Because on the world's largest streaming platform, everyone can find exactly what they're interested in. Whether it's retro gaming, chatting, large-scale shows or tutorials on all kinds of topics - on Twitch, everyone can pick their favorite content and sit back and relax. An essential part of the ultimate Twitch experience is live chat. This is where all viewers of a channel come together and can discuss what is happening directly on the screen. Creators also place a high value on viewer interaction. They answer questions from the chat, try to pick up feedback and form a community. Twitch chat is legendary and the cradle of many memes that circulate on the Internet today.
Earn money on Twitch
In addition, Twitch offers unique opportunities to be part of the community or to support other creators. Basically, of course, Twitch is free. You won't find a channel that charges money for just watching. However, creators who regularly have 3 concurrent viewers, at least 50 followers and have streamed 8 hours on at least 7 days within the last 30 days can earn the so-called affiliate status. With this status, which is awarded by Twitch, you are theoretically able to monetize your activity as a streamer. Viewers who particularly like the content then have the opportunity to support you with a monthly subscription, which costs 3.99 EUR (as of November 2021). You then share this amount with Twitch - in the end, you receive about 50%. In addition, users can cheer for you with so-called bits, the virtual currency of Twitch. Per bit you will receive 1 cent. The smallest Bit package is 100 Bits and costs 1.52€.
Twitch facts
Twitch - The facts about the largest streaming portal in the world
Now you have learned in this comprehensive article what Twitch is and how the platform was created. Last but not least, we would like to give you some interesting facts and data about Twitch.
- There are over 10 million active streamers on Twitch (Q3 2021).
- The average viewership across the platform is 2.6 million.
- Viewers consumed over 5 billions hours of content in Q3 2021.
- With nearly 140,000 active subscriptions, CriticalRole currently leads the world creator rankings with the most subs. (as of November 2021)
- Ludwig holds the unbroken subscription record with over 283,000 active subscribers (reached April 2021) after his successful subathon.
- The Spanish creator TheGrefg recorded the most simultaneous viewers during a stream. During the presentation of his own Fortnite skin, over 2.5 million viewers tuned in in November 2019.
- Twitch's categories are now divided into Games, IRL, Music & ESports.
