5 ms·

This had been in the cards for a long time now. Justin.tv was a huge liability since there were so many streams running pirated content. They were really smart

This had been in the cards for a long time now. Justin.tv was a huge liability since there were so many streams running pirated content. They were really smart in acknowledging the success of video game streaming the platform was having and focusing their efforts there. Honestly one of the better pivots I have seen. I think they are a really smart company, it will be interesting to see what happens post Google.

calbear81 12y ago
It makes perfect sense since they weren't really interesting to go after (no money ) and now with the potential for a huge acquisition they need to reduce exposure to lawsuits from content companies that see a gigantic treasure chest almost ready to pop open.
- pkaye 12y ago
  Is there any money in twitch except through acquisition?
  - morgante 12y ago
    Advertising and partnering with big gaming contests can generate real revenue.
  - spinlock 12y ago
    Not really. The networking costs to stream to that many users is huge. Google has the infrastructure to change the cost structure but it only works with that kind of scale.
  - forrestthewoods 12y ago
    Top twitch streamers can pull 6 figures a year. I don't know what the bototm line for twitch looks like though.
  - harmegido 12y ago
    There's also subscriptions. People will pay $5 to subscribe to a channel for a month, half of which goes to Twitch (other half to the streamer).
    - ihuman 12y ago
      In addition to just subscribing to 1 channel, people can also subscribe to "Twitch Turbo," with gives all the money to Twitch.
  - thekylemontag 12y ago
    game publishers also have paid twitch for front-page visibility during release hype. I have a feeling they pay quite a bit.
  - benihana 12y ago
    Ads, subscriptions and merchandise all come to mind.
jonmc12 12y ago
Was re-reading "Why TV Lost" essay by PG (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=501696 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=501696), which seemed inspired by Justin.tv. A lot of the points in the essay from 5 years ago were really telling, including the role of piracy in the user experience. One interesting excerpt: "The somewhat more surprising force was one specific type of innovation: social applications... This was what made everyone want computers. Nerds got computers because they liked them. Then gamers got them to play games on. But it was connecting to other people that got everyone else: that's what made even grandmas and 14 year old girls want computers."
- jhmarten 12y ago
  > Nerds got computers because they liked them. Then gamers got them to play games on. But it was connecting to other people that got everyone else I've never seen anyone completely write IBM and Microsoft out of computing history by such absurd degree as this.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - kibibu 12y ago
    Or Apple/Aldus/Adobe for that matter. "Nerds" got them because at the time computers could only do the things nerds wanted them to.

calbear81 12y ago

It makes perfect sense since they weren't really interesting to go after (no money ) and now with the potential for a huge acquisition they need to reduce exposure to lawsuits from content companies that see a gigantic treasure chest almost ready to pop open.

pkaye 12y ago
Is there any money in twitch except through acquisition?
- morgante 12y ago
  Advertising and partnering with big gaming contests can generate real revenue.
- spinlock 12y ago
  Not really. The networking costs to stream to that many users is huge. Google has the infrastructure to change the cost structure but it only works with that kind of scale.
- forrestthewoods 12y ago
  Top twitch streamers can pull 6 figures a year. I don't know what the bototm line for twitch looks like though.
- harmegido 12y ago
  There's also subscriptions. People will pay $5 to subscribe to a channel for a month, half of which goes to Twitch (other half to the streamer).
  - ihuman 12y ago
    In addition to just subscribing to 1 channel, people can also subscribe to "Twitch Turbo," with gives all the money to Twitch.
- thekylemontag 12y ago
  game publishers also have paid twitch for front-page visibility during release hype. I have a feeling they pay quite a bit.
- benihana 12y ago
  Ads, subscriptions and merchandise all come to mind.

jonmc12 12y ago

Was re-reading "Why TV Lost" essay by PG (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=501696 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=501696), which seemed inspired by Justin.tv. A lot of the points in the essay from 5 years ago were really telling, including the role of piracy in the user experience. One interesting excerpt: "The somewhat more surprising force was one specific type of innovation: social applications... This was what made everyone want computers. Nerds got computers because they liked them. Then gamers got them to play games on. But it was connecting to other people that got everyone else: that's what made even grandmas and 14 year old girls want computers."

jhmarten 12y ago
> Nerds got computers because they liked them. Then gamers got them to play games on. But it was connecting to other people that got everyone else I've never seen anyone completely write IBM and Microsoft out of computing history by such absurd degree as this.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- kibibu 12y ago
  Or Apple/Aldus/Adobe for that matter. "Nerds" got them because at the time computers could only do the things nerds wanted them to.