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Twitch is dying? They had 258k+ people watching The International. There were 130k watching an EULCS quarterfinal today. And those are just a couple of streams

by Trisell 10y ago

Twitch is dying? They had 258k+ people watching The International. There were 130k watching an EULCS quarterfinal today. And those are just a couple of streams of the thousands that are online at any given time. Not to mention the popular streamers who have 10 of thousands of subs who pay $5+ a month which Twitch gets part of. Twitch is most definitely not "dying."

tantalor 10y ago
People pay $5+/mo to watch gamer streams? That can't be right. Edit: Found an example, https://www.twitch.tv/products/leagueofgeeks/ticket https://www.twitch.tv/products/leagueofgeeks/ticket $5/mo for some random features and no ads, with "limited exceptions", so not actually ad-free. What are you paying for?
- Trisell 10y ago
  There are streamers that have people who have subbed at $4.99 a month for 12+ months, upwards of some I've seen at 30+ months. Every 12 months is called a twitchaversery.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- iherbig 10y ago
  They don't pay to watch, they pay to support the streamer. Most streamers have subscriber/donation/cheer notifications appear on-screen in some way. Making partner on Twitch (which enables subscriptions) requires the streamer to have a consistent number of viewers each time they stream, and they must stream fairly often. It's not uncommon to see streamers with a fairly sizeable number of subscribers any given month.
  - Trisell 10y ago
    There is one streamer I follow who has 6600 active subscribers right now. His subs pay $4.99 a sub. And regularly had 20k+ viewers everyday. https://www.twitch.tv/cohhcarnage https://www.twitch.tv/cohhcarnage
    - Scfix 10y ago
      This guy is a good example of a club. He is more akin in building a group of followers that like the same games. He even has a site dedicated in building this community. his stream is basically what facilitates a common identity. The best way to think of it is paying to be a member of a private club to meet people to game with.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - tantalor 10y ago
    Alright, I understand that. You suggest it's an ethical decision rather than economic; that streamers deserve the support. But why? I fund a few YouTubers on patreon, because they create content in the traditional sense, e.g., research, writing, filming, editing, etc. That's hard work. Streamers don't do any of that; they literally sit in their basement and play video games all day. Why do they need support? Sure, watching a stream is entertaining, but when I think "supporting a content creator", I have to imagine that my support enables their creativity in some way. Does a streamer with more support produce better content than a streamer with less support? The only thing I can think of is more support might allow a streamer to devote more of their time to streaming.
    - Trisell 10y ago
      Full disclosure: I support one streamer. I support him because the streams and let's plays that he does are games that I would like to play. But have very little time to actually play due to work, family and life. My support, along with many others allows him to stream full time, and I am able to enjoy the games and his streams during work, so I get to see the game content that I otherwise wouldn't have time to play myself. And for the cost of a game per year. It's a pretty cheap way to enjoy games that I otherwise wouldn't.
    - iherbig 10y ago
      >You suggest it's an ethical decision rather than economic; that streamers deserve the support. But why? I don't suggest any such thing. I think supporting a streamer or not is pretty amoral. It's all about whether or not you feel that you would like to contribute financially to a given streamer whose work you enjoy. As for why they need support? I don't think many people would say that streamers universally "need" anything. It's about whether or not you personally would like to give money to a person who brings you entertainment. You admit that there are a few YouTubers who you support on Patreon. Many Twitch streamers (most that I've seen) are also YouTubers and produce content there based on their streaming. At the end of the day, I think your misconception is that you think of "supporting the streamer" as a transaction in payment for content produced and that entertainment is not content (or in some other way not worth supporting in the same way that traditional "content" is). The question is simple: Is the content entertaining to me? Do I want to show my appreciation for the entertainment? That's all. Personally, I have not subscribed to any Twitch streamers and I don't intend to. I appreciate what they offer, but I do not feel compelled to subscribe. And I don't think there's any moral quandary there.
- detaro 10y ago
  Streamers can choose different features that are reserved for subscribers only, but with maybe the exception of a few large events (at least in the past some gated HD streams behind the subscription) it's more like perks for people supporting the streamer, not for access to the content. Patreon is also not uncommon, + with the potential of higher amounts with better perks.
elmigranto 10y ago
What you say is true, but "thousands that are online at any given time" doesn't accurately reflect what's going on. First of all, I would think most of streams are 0-10 viewers. Then we have people that stream to multiple services simultaneously (most programming streams do this and majority of people are not watching them on twitch).
- gberger 10y ago
  > I would think most of streams are 0-10 viewers Most YouTube videos have 0-10 views. Most App Store apps have 0-10 downloads.

by Trisell 10y ago

tantalor 10y ago

People pay $5+/mo to watch gamer streams? That can't be right. Edit: Found an example, https://www.twitch.tv/products/leagueofgeeks/ticket https://www.twitch.tv/products/leagueofgeeks/ticket $5/mo for some random features and no ads, with "limited exceptions", so not actually ad-free. What are you paying for?

Trisell 10y ago
There are streamers that have people who have subbed at $4.99 a month for 12+ months, upwards of some I've seen at 30+ months. Every 12 months is called a twitchaversery.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
iherbig 10y ago
They don't pay to watch, they pay to support the streamer. Most streamers have subscriber/donation/cheer notifications appear on-screen in some way. Making partner on Twitch (which enables subscriptions) requires the streamer to have a consistent number of viewers each time they stream, and they must stream fairly often. It's not uncommon to see streamers with a fairly sizeable number of subscribers any given month.
- Trisell 10y ago
  There is one streamer I follow who has 6600 active subscribers right now. His subs pay $4.99 a sub. And regularly had 20k+ viewers everyday. https://www.twitch.tv/cohhcarnage https://www.twitch.tv/cohhcarnage
  - Scfix 10y ago
    This guy is a good example of a club. He is more akin in building a group of followers that like the same games. He even has a site dedicated in building this community. his stream is basically what facilitates a common identity. The best way to think of it is paying to be a member of a private club to meet people to game with.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- tantalor 10y ago
  Alright, I understand that. You suggest it's an ethical decision rather than economic; that streamers deserve the support. But why? I fund a few YouTubers on patreon, because they create content in the traditional sense, e.g., research, writing, filming, editing, etc. That's hard work. Streamers don't do any of that; they literally sit in their basement and play video games all day. Why do they need support? Sure, watching a stream is entertaining, but when I think "supporting a content creator", I have to imagine that my support enables their creativity in some way. Does a streamer with more support produce better content than a streamer with less support? The only thing I can think of is more support might allow a streamer to devote more of their time to streaming.
  - Trisell 10y ago
    Full disclosure: I support one streamer. I support him because the streams and let's plays that he does are games that I would like to play. But have very little time to actually play due to work, family and life. My support, along with many others allows him to stream full time, and I am able to enjoy the games and his streams during work, so I get to see the game content that I otherwise wouldn't have time to play myself. And for the cost of a game per year. It's a pretty cheap way to enjoy games that I otherwise wouldn't.
  - iherbig 10y ago
    >You suggest it's an ethical decision rather than economic; that streamers deserve the support. But why? I don't suggest any such thing. I think supporting a streamer or not is pretty amoral. It's all about whether or not you feel that you would like to contribute financially to a given streamer whose work you enjoy. As for why they need support? I don't think many people would say that streamers universally "need" anything. It's about whether or not you personally would like to give money to a person who brings you entertainment. You admit that there are a few YouTubers who you support on Patreon. Many Twitch streamers (most that I've seen) are also YouTubers and produce content there based on their streaming. At the end of the day, I think your misconception is that you think of "supporting the streamer" as a transaction in payment for content produced and that entertainment is not content (or in some other way not worth supporting in the same way that traditional "content" is). The question is simple: Is the content entertaining to me? Do I want to show my appreciation for the entertainment? That's all. Personally, I have not subscribed to any Twitch streamers and I don't intend to. I appreciate what they offer, but I do not feel compelled to subscribe. And I don't think there's any moral quandary there.
detaro 10y ago
Streamers can choose different features that are reserved for subscribers only, but with maybe the exception of a few large events (at least in the past some gated HD streams behind the subscription) it's more like perks for people supporting the streamer, not for access to the content. Patreon is also not uncommon, + with the potential of higher amounts with better perks.

elmigranto 10y ago

What you say is true, but "thousands that are online at any given time" doesn't accurately reflect what's going on. First of all, I would think most of streams are 0-10 viewers. Then we have people that stream to multiple services simultaneously (most programming streams do this and majority of people are not watching them on twitch).

gberger 10y ago
> I would think most of streams are 0-10 viewers Most YouTube videos have 0-10 views. Most App Store apps have 0-10 downloads.