What is Twitch ?

Initially, this platform was named Justin.tv by their founders Justin Kan, Emmett Shear and Michael Seibel. It allows anyone to broadcast user-created content (UCC) on a channel. People could watch it for free without any registration. In 2007 Justin.tv was launched as a form of network of thousands of different channels.

In 2011, Twitch was introduced as a spin-off of Justin.tv, with a particular focus on video game live streaming including esports competitions. The channels’ content can be viewed either via video on demand or on live. On February 2014, the platform reached 45 million unique viewers and was considered as the fourth peak internet traffic in the US. Justin.tv shot down in August 2014 by the owner to focus the resource’s on Twitch’s development.

The same mouth, Amazon acquired the live streaming website for US$970 million. In June 2016, Twitch launched a new feature called “Cheering”. Viewers can buy an in-site currency known as “Bits”. Then, they can donate these Bits to the channel to gain some emoticons and honours. Viewers earn badges based on how much they have cheered. This represents one of the only ways to support the channel owner.

Amazon also made a link between Twitch and its service. On September 30, 2016, Twitch introduced a new feature called Twitch Prime. Users with an active Amazon Prime subscription can follow a channel without paying the 5$ price. It encourages users of Amazon Prime to go to Twitch and support their favourite channel. It also includes advertising-free streaming, monthly offers and game discounts.

Twitch's average concurrent viewers in the world in 2016 was 600 thousand people. In 2019, it doubled to 1.2 million. This shows the rise of popularity of the platform since the Amazon’s acquisition.