Live content had a year, what's next?
COVID had major impacts on live streaming and especially gaming content
I want to thank everyone that is taking their time to read through this! My first post on nixtakes was better received than I’d expected and I am so grateful for everyone that left feedback or shared it. As always, please share your thoughts and feedback I would be more than happy to hear what people have to say. Now, on with the show…
Those of us familiar with live streaming know how much the landscape has changed over the years. From pre-Twitch days (Justin.tv OGs where are you at?) to 2020 quarantine months, live-streamed content looks infinitely different and continues to evolve. Today, older generations are just beginning to realize the type of impact that Twitch (and other live-streaming platforms) have on younger generations like Gen Z, especially with political activism on Twitch becoming a greater topic over the last 6 months or so.
The year 2020 saw a lot of cultural shifts in the United States (as well as many other parts of the world) as we’re definitely all aware of by now. COVID’s impact on live-streaming saw many artists bringing their craft to online streaming platforms and we saw a great deal of concerts pivot to virtual alternatives. Even David Dobrik, whose content relies heavily on hanging out with friends or doing random $#!+ (which would totally defy all public health stay-at-home orders), has spent a lot of time discovering Twitch and connecting with his community in live formats (Instagram and TikTok LIVE included). Since August 2020, his channel has hit a stride and that puts him in the top 1000 Twitch streamers according to TwitchTracker:
While we’ve seen a general shift in brands, organizations, et cetera moving to capitalize on this audience and viewership increase, I think there’s still a lot of room for growth for streaming platforms and live content on them. Stream integrations, “drops”, more ways to connect and engage with communities, and so many other possibilities are on the horizon and I’m always excited to see what people can bring to the table and do to keep pushing boundaries. I’m looking forward to seeing the growth of competitors like YouTube Gaming, optimistic and bullish on new streaming platforms or avenues to break in and offer different, more unique, (and hopefully better!) features for users and really give Twitch a run for its money. I don’t know if a competitor will come around and challenge Twitch for its thrown but I’ll never rule it out because, realistically, Mixer could’ve done it they just took a vastly different approach than expected given the Microsoft backing.
We’ve already seen celebrities take a more active approach to video games and esports, going beyond just capital investment and venturing into the unknown as creators and collaborators. If you haven’t seen it already, TPAIN is one of Corsair’s newest sponsored creators who has been averaging around 1,300 concurrent users while adding in his musical flair to his gaming streams:
His content is unique and definitely adds a flair that Twitch lacks which is refreshing to see as opposed to seeing celebrities create generic content and pull in thousands of viewers with little to no effort. I fully expect to see more celebrities like TPAIN and Logic (read up on this case if you haven’t yet) start streaming on Twitch and competitor platforms, offering their special “take” on live content and challenging current creators to continue to innovate and trailblaze in any way they can.
Ultimately, I don’t see video game live-streaming going anywhere anytime soon (except maybe upwards 🚀🚀🚀) and I have a lot of expectations for 2021 which I’m very hopeful for. This is a topic I can spend hours discussing, diving deeper into other types of platforms and services such as Caffeine, types of content such as vtubers (so hot right now), and so much more. This space evolves too quickly for a lot of people to keep up with, so I don’t blame you if you have no idea what I’m talking about!
If these discussions are something you like reading about, join me on Clubhouse when I discuss these types of topics further in depth and follow me on LinkedIn where I tend to share a lot of these thoughts in shorter form and more frequently. Until next time.