What is Twitch?

That old stereotype of a video gamer being a twenty-something male playing Super Mario in their parents’ basement is a thing of the past. Long behind us are the days when video games were constantly lambasted by the media, now it is almost impossible to walk down the street without running into a Pokemon Go player.

Whilst some are still getting to grips with social media, online gamers have long surpassed us all, making their way to the forefront of the digital entertainment world. Periscope and Facebook live are still establishing themselves, yet live online streaming has existed on the website TwitchTV since 2011.

Twitch has become a go-to platform for online gaming, for both gamers and fans. Think of it as sitting down in the living room to watch Manchester United, if the team were all playing World of Warcraft. Gamers can stream matches and casual playing to viewers reaching into the thousands, and viewers can comment in a live chat stream that sits alongside the video.

Of course it’s not just for gaming, acquired by Amazon in 2014, the online juggernaut were looking for a platform to rival Youtube. Recently, Twitch has been developing its content to diversify their media offerings, last week they streamed the american republican and democratic debates and users have recently embraced a concept known as ‘social eating’.

Why should you pay attention? 

Just in case you need some convincing, Twitch has 100+ million unique viewers per month, and falls right behind Netflix, Apple and Google for online traffic. Much like Youtube, there is money to be made in the platform. Popular broadcasters can partner with Twitch themselves and go on to offer a subscriber button. Users can subscribe to their channel for $4.99 per month, half of which goes to the player and half goes to Twitch.

In 2015, Twitch users watched 459,366 years worth of content. Amongst the most popular streamers worldwide is a UK player known online as ‘LIRIK’, and whilst Twitch don’t publish subscriber figures it is estimated that the player earns at least £18,000 per month. Let that sink in…

From an advertisers point of view, Twitch offers a highly engaged predominantly male audience. Advertising can exist in a variety of ways, from product placements to the typical video ads. Last year Old Spice launched an ad campaign inviting Twitch users to “control the actions of a real human in a mysterious, booby-trapped forest for three consecutive days.”

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