The early numbers seem to confirm Lin: Ninja’s switch had little impact on Mixer’s market shares.
Cloud gaming and Hunger Games as important future ideas
What does Lin say about the future of Twitch? Lin believes that cloud technology would change a lot. It could then be possible for a viewer to play the same game as the streamer at the push of a button, maybe even together with them.
A streamer could say: “The first 4 who press the button play with me now.” That could really work.
Lin says: It would be like going to your favorite basketball player and just shooting some hoops with them. That would be cool, Lin believes.
Lin believes that some new games will soon adapt to Twitch. Not as “single-player” or “multiplayer” but as “games for an audience.”
There are already ideas on how viewers can influence a streamer’s game. Lin says some games are oriented towards the Hunger Games (The Hunger Games): Here, viewers could spend money to decide what happens in the game, whether their favorite gets a “health pack” or whether a part of the map goes up in flames.
Based on this concept, “a lot of game companies” are working on these issues. Lin finds this interesting. Such games would be released soon. This would then initiate a new evolution in game development.
Lin says: It would be like going to your favorite basketball player and just shooting some hoops with them. That would be cool, Lin believes.
Lin believes that some new games will soon adapt to Twitch. Not as “single-player” or “multiplayer” but as “games for an audience.”
There are already ideas on how viewers can influence a streamer’s game. Lin says some games are oriented towards the Hunger Games (The Hunger Games): Here, viewers could spend money to decide what happens in the game, whether their favorite gets a “health pack” or whether a part of the map goes up in flames.
Based on this concept, “a lot of game companies” are working on these issues. Lin finds this interesting. Such games would be released soon. This would then initiate a new evolution in game development.
The early numbers seem to confirm Lin: Ninja’s switch had little impact on Mixer’s market shares.
Cloud gaming and Hunger Games as important future ideas
What does Lin say about the future of Twitch? Lin believes that cloud technology would change a lot. It could then be possible for a viewer to play the same game as the streamer at the push of a button, maybe even together with them.
A streamer could say: “The first 4 who press the button play with me now.” That could really work.
Lin says: It would be like going to your favorite basketball player and just shooting some hoops with them. That would be cool, Lin believes.
Lin believes that some new games will soon adapt to Twitch. Not as “single-player” or “multiplayer” but as “games for an audience.”
There are already ideas on how viewers can influence a streamer’s game. Lin says some games are oriented towards the Hunger Games (The Hunger Games): Here, viewers could spend money to decide what happens in the game, whether their favorite gets a “health pack” or whether a part of the map goes up in flames.
Based on this concept, “a lot of game companies” are working on these issues. Lin finds this interesting. Such games would be released soon. This would then initiate a new evolution in game development.
In an interview, Kevin Lin, one of the co-founders of Twitch, talks about the transition of Fortnite star Tyler “Ninja” Blevins to the competitor Mixer and about the visions Twitch has for its future. He sees it, for example, in the “Hunger Games” and in cloud gaming
Who is speaking? It is Kevin Lin, he is one of the co-founders of Twitch and was COO there for many years, a senior manager.
Lin was already at Twitch when the service was still called justin.tv and was basically “The Truman Show.” Because in the beginning, Justin Kan streamed his life 24 hours a day.
Meanwhile, Twitch has been bought by Amazon and has become a huge company itself.
They have 15 million unique users per day and over 3 million content creators, 500,000 of whom stream daily.
In an interview with Venturebeat, Lin talks about some topics.
Twitch is “very sad” about Ninja’s departure
This is what he says about Ninja’s departure: On August 1, 2019, the biggest streamer on Twitch, Fortnite star Tyler “Ninja” Blevins left Twitch and switched to Mixer.
Lin says about that:
“We are very sad about this, very sad. We have known Ninja for 10 years. Many people don’t know that he has been streaming for so long before his breakthrough with Fortnite. He was a Halo pro, a very dedicated Halo streamer, but when Battle Royale came – H1Z1, PUBG, and then Fortnite – he rode that wave. That was really cool.
What Fortnite did, and what Ninja was able to do, was to take gaming to the next level. That is what we think about a lot. What impact can we have on the gaming industry and how can we make it okay to play?”
Kevin Lin on Tyler “Ninja” Blevins
Gaming is suddenly cool
Lin then explains that Twitch streamers and viewers have done a lot to improve the image of “gaming.”
Today, gaming is no longer a “nerd thing” that you do in the basement. Instead, it is cool to game. Rappers and musicians play. It is something that people do together. Gaming has positive qualities, brings people together, and teaches good “social skills.”
The change has brought a lot of positives in recent years:
- In the past, Twitch had 90% male viewers
- Today it is 70% male and 30% female.
People are talking more about games. eSports players have become something like rock stars.
“Unfortunately, the switch barely impacts Mixer”
However, Lin does not believe that the switch of stars from the top 50 at Twitch to Mixer has a big impact. He says:
“For the moment, the early data tells us that [the switch of major streamers] has no big impact on Mixer, unfortunately.
As far as we are concerned: We have many up-and-coming streamers. A lot of people are part of the Twitch culture. Twitch is a platform, a culture. We have many people who have formed friendships here. They watch a lot of streamers. They tend to stay here.”
Kevin Lin
Lin says: It would be like going to your favorite basketball player and just shooting some hoops with them. That would be cool, Lin believes.
Lin believes that some new games will soon adapt to Twitch. Not as “single-player” or “multiplayer” but as “games for an audience.”
There are already ideas on how viewers can influence a streamer’s game. Lin says some games are oriented towards the Hunger Games (The Hunger Games): Here, viewers could spend money to decide what happens in the game, whether their favorite gets a “health pack” or whether a part of the map goes up in flames.
Based on this concept, “a lot of game companies” are working on these issues. Lin finds this interesting. Such games would be released soon. This would then initiate a new evolution in game development.
Lin says: It would be like going to your favorite basketball player and just shooting some hoops with them. That would be cool, Lin believes.
Lin believes that some new games will soon adapt to Twitch. Not as “single-player” or “multiplayer” but as “games for an audience.”
There are already ideas on how viewers can influence a streamer’s game. Lin says some games are oriented towards the Hunger Games (The Hunger Games): Here, viewers could spend money to decide what happens in the game, whether their favorite gets a “health pack” or whether a part of the map goes up in flames.
Based on this concept, “a lot of game companies” are working on these issues. Lin finds this interesting. Such games would be released soon. This would then initiate a new evolution in game development.
The early numbers seem to confirm Lin: Ninja’s switch had little impact on Mixer’s market shares.
Cloud gaming and Hunger Games as important future ideas
What does Lin say about the future of Twitch? Lin believes that cloud technology would change a lot. It could then be possible for a viewer to play the same game as the streamer at the push of a button, maybe even together with them.
A streamer could say: “The first 4 who press the button play with me now.” That could really work.
Lin says: It would be like going to your favorite basketball player and just shooting some hoops with them. That would be cool, Lin believes.
Lin believes that some new games will soon adapt to Twitch. Not as “single-player” or “multiplayer” but as “games for an audience.”
There are already ideas on how viewers can influence a streamer’s game. Lin says some games are oriented towards the Hunger Games (The Hunger Games): Here, viewers could spend money to decide what happens in the game, whether their favorite gets a “health pack” or whether a part of the map goes up in flames.
Based on this concept, “a lot of game companies” are working on these issues. Lin finds this interesting. Such games would be released soon. This would then initiate a new evolution in game development.
