How has Twitch Reinvented Gaming - Social Streaming for Gamers

 For such a niche platform, it has grown exponentially with Amazon purchasing Twitch for almost $1 billion in 2016. 

For anyone that is not familiar with Twitch, this is a platform for users to live stream video games, interact with viewers, bridging the global gap for niche video game lovers and to expand communities.
 

 According to Twitch, the current statistics for the platform are as below:

• 9.7 million daily active users
• 2+ million unique streamers per month
• 17+ thousand members of the Twitch Partner Program
• 106 minutes watched per person per day
• 2+ million peak concurrent sitewide viewers
• 46+ million raised by the Twitch community for charity

With the figures above, you can see the potential that Amazon saw in this platform. Interestingly, One of the largest fighting game tournaments named Evolution was broadcasted on ESPN 2, reaching 1,946,000 unique people with an average of 20 mins. When I hear this statistic, it astounds me that as a community we have come from playing our friends in the arcades to having the chance to play on TV doing what you love.

The most popular games on twitch would usually be League of Legends, OverWatch, Counter Strike, Hearthstone and DOTA. This all does depend on tournaments lined up, popular streamers and new releases as they bring in the most viewers. 

 List of games that are being streamed  

Youtube have even released their own streaming platform called ‘Youtube Gaming’. It has a very ‘Youtube’ aura to it as it interface hasn't changed much but it makes sense that Google would delve into live gaming streams.Twitch still is the more popular platform as Youtube doesn't seem to have any outstanding features comparing to each other however more competition in this field will only benefit gamers who love to stream.

As we see a decline in TV viewers over the years from the youth, are we going to see more niche live streams such as gaming being broadcasted on TV in the west? I really hope so

Thanks Steemit Community,

Afii