Twitch – gaming streaming platform

Twitch – gaming streaming platform
Picture: Andrea Vumbaca | Dreamstime
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The Twitch service belongs to the category of video streaming platforms and specializes in the category of computer games, including paying special attention to broadcasting both esports tournaments and gameplay itself.

The service, owned by Amazon subsidiary Twitch Interactive, can be viewed both online and on demand, with the majority of Twitch’s audience being between the ages of 18 and 35.

The service can be accessed on any device, including apps for iOS and Android, while the Livestreamer program, which is unofficial in nature, allows you to watch broadcasts without any browser at all, for which you just need to use third party player like VLC.
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The main American Twitch servers are located in San Francisco, the European ones are in Haarlem, while the Asian ones are concentrated in Singapore. In addition to esports tournaments and gameplay streaming, the service allows you to watch poker tournaments, as well as musical performances.

Service Features

Any Twitch user can earn on his channel, for which it is better to use the benefits that the affiliate program provides, while an attempt to cheat views can lead to a ban.

Twitch
Picture: twitch.tv

The developers do not recommend using the service to persons under 12 years of age, which is primarily due to the content of scenes of violence in some games, and in order to minimize the risks of an account ban, profanity and provocative conversations should be avoided.

How to use

In order to use the service from a smartphone, first of all, you need to download the appropriate application and allow it access to the camera and microphone, as well as a memory card, then register an account, and by opening the application and selecting the camera icon, start shooting by selecting the option ” Live”, as a result of which the recording will become publicly available.

Many people prefer to use their TV to watch live tournaments on Twitch, which will require smart TV technology.

Twitch Rules

From January 22, 2021, new rules began to operate on the service, according to which any insults to teammates are prohibited, and moderators can track users’ actions not only directly on the platform, but also in social networks, in order to prevent the posting of discriminatory content.

Twitch
Picture: twitch.tv

In addition, it is forbidden to display any objects containing the Arrow cross sign, place the Confederate flag in the frame, as well as discuss any population groups and hint that someone has a body problem. Particular attention will be paid to the moderation of emoticons evaluated for malicious intent.

Growth rate

In the second quarter of this year, Twitch posted a 4% year-on-year growth, reaching 6.2 billion watch hours, setting a new platform record.

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The most watched game was Grand Theft Auto V with 167 million hours, while League of Legends and Call of Duty: Warzone came in second and third with 143 and 80 million hours respectively.

Strangely, even as lockdowns imposed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic eased somewhat, the Twitch platform continued to show growth, reaching a 31% mark over the past year. Of particular interest lately, as the StreamElements analytical platform notes, are virtual stream hosts.

Official site https://www.twitch.tv