Twitch | Overview, History, & Facts (2024)

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Written by

Roland Martin Roland Martin is a freelance writer living in San Francisco.

Roland Martin

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Twitch, American online live streaming platform where users can watch video game footage. Founded in 2011, Twitch has become the largest video game streaming platform in the world, having an average of 31 million visitors daily. Twitch is a subsidiary of Amazon, which bought the platform in August 2014 for $970 million. Twitch’s main headquarters are in San Francisco.

Twitch’s predecessor was a start-up founded by entrepreneur and Web developer Justin Kan in 2007 after he had recently graduated from Yale University. The service was named Justin.tv after the founder, who, with the help of friends Emmett Shear, Michael Seibel, and Kyle Vogt, began to stream his life nonstop, hoping to imitate a Big Brother-style reality show. Justin.tv expanded over the next year to allow anyone with an adequate setup to live stream on the site. By 2008 Justin.tv had accumulated 1 million registered users. Content on the website was divided into categories, including one for video games. Gaming soon eclipsed the lifestyle content on Justin.tv, pushing its owners, by then just Kan and Shear, to create a spinoff site called Twitch, which officially launched in June 2011.

Twitch operated on the premise that anyone could live stream if they had the requisite hardware and could operate the site’s software. These “streamers,” as they would come to be called, could become site partners if they were successful enough and, in turn, earn revenue through advertising. The platform was an instant hit. By 2014 Twitch, supported by over $35 million in venture capital investment, was profitable, had established its headquarters in San Francisco’s financial district, and had over 100 employees. That same year the site commanded 1.8 percent of peak Internet traffic in the United States, behind only Netflix, Google, and Apple. (Kan shut down Justin.tv in 2014, aiming to focus on Twitch.)

In May 2014 Google attempted to acquire Twitch for $1 billion. Amazon entered a $970 million bid in August of the same year, citing its desire to enter the video game broadcasting industry. Twitch’s leaders opted for Amazon, believing the e-commerce giant would offer the streaming site more autonomy. They also felt that, because Google owned the video-sharing platform YouTube, Twitch would be forced into a secondary role. It was later reported that Google had dropped out of the deal over concerns about antitrust laws.

In 2016 Twitch added a feature that allowed viewers to purchase “Bits,” which they could in turn give to streamers. That same year the company introduced an automated chat moderation tool that filtered out abusive content. Twitch had long had a “Partner Program” that prevented its most successful steamers from broadcasting their content on other websites, but Twitch abandoned the exclusivity agreement in 2022. The site operated under Shear until he stepped down as chief executive officer in March 2023 and was replaced by longtime Twitch president Dan Clancy.

Twitch has more than 7 million unique active streamers as of 2023. Individual streams are differentiated by the video game being streamed, though there are alternate categories for live-action chat and tabletop game streams. The home page presents site visitors with a selection of featured streams and short clips from recorded streams. Each stream has a live-chat function, in which viewers may communicate using a variety of animated icons, or “emotes.” Twitch earns revenue in multiple ways. Advertisements are the first and primary source of revenue. Twitch also takes a portion from subscriptions and Bits donations.

Twitch | Overview, History, & Facts (2)

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Twitch is a common venue for esports competitions in games such as League of Legends and Dota 2, which remain two of the most popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games on the site. These tournaments bring in millions of viewers. Twitch has also integrated professional sports onto its platform. For example, the NBA G League regularly broadcasts games on the site. Twitch hosts a number of charity streams as well; in 2020 alone streamers raised more than $80 million for various charities. Twitch’s popularity is showcased at TwitchCon, an annual gathering of streamers and viewers that attracts tens of thousands of attendees.

Roland Martin

Twitch | Overview, History, & Facts (2024)

FAQs

What is Twitch on my bank statement? ›

JTI*TWITCHTV SUB SRVCS” is how Twitch charges may appear on your bank statement. If you are seeing unrecognized / unauthorized charges on your statement please get in touch with us directly so we may assist and investigate further.

How to see old Twitch recaps? ›

Locate your recap directly on the streamer's channel page or your subscriptions management page. After clicking the monthly recap link, use the arrow keys to navigate between pages. View from streamer's channel page.

How to see Twitch stream history? ›

The Stream Summary page in your Creator Dashboard shows you data for individual streams, so you can analyze your most recent stream, or revisit previous streams to compare how you performed stream over stream. For a snapshot of how your channel is doing overall, visit the Overview page.

Does Twitch keep history? ›

Past Broadcast

Most Twitch Partners, Prime and Twitch Turbo users will have their past broadcasts saved for 60 days before being deleted. All other broadcasters will have their past broadcasts saved for 7 days* before they are deleted.

Why am I getting charged for Twitch? ›

Twitch makes certain offerings – for example, channel subs and Turbo – available to users on a subscription basis with recurring payments. You may cancel existing subscriptions up to 24 hours before your Sub Renew Date (which can be viewed on your Subscriptions page) to avoid being charged for the next renewal period.

What is Twitch used for? ›

What exactly is it? Twitch is a video-streaming platform that offers a fun, social way to watch people play games. Through the Twitch app (and online at Twitch.tv), gamers who broadcast their matches (known as streamers) play their favorite titles while providing running commentary on the action.

How do I check my Twitch message history? ›

Type /USER followed by the username into your own channel's chatbox. This command displays a log of everything the user has said in the channel, as well as channel-specific comments from mods, ban history, and timeouts. You'll also see how long they've been following you and how long they've had their account.

How many hours watched for Twitch recap? ›

Personalized Viewer Recaps are only available to those who watched at least 10 hours of live content on Twitch during the eligible window of activity. This minimum number of hours watched can be spread across any number of channels, and does not need to come from a single stream. Why do I not see a Creator Recap?

How do I get my yearly Twitch recap? ›

You can unsubscribe at any time. To qualify for the Viewer recap, you need to have watched at least 10 hours of broadcasts on Twitch over the last 12 months. To qualify for the Creator recap, meanwhile, you need to have broadcast at least 10 hours' worth of content in the last year.

What is the average age of people on Twitch? ›

Twitch's global community of streamers broadcast live content in 35 languages. ​​​​​​ More than 70% of viewers are between the ages of 18 and 34.

What percentage of streamers are successful? ›

In a small-scale poll, 72.6% of Twitch streamers said that they make no money on the platform, while 15.2% make between $1 and $25 monthly. In 2022, 7.6 million unique creators streamed monthly content. Twitch made an estimated $2.8 billion in revenue in the same year.

What are the average viewers on Twitch? ›

Average Viewers. The average number of concurrent viewers in your stream. To calculate this number, we check how many viewers there are at each point in time when you are live. The stat in the top bar is an average of this number across all the time streamed in the selected date range.

Can people see what you're watching on Twitch? ›

Activity Sharing allows Twitch users to easily and automatically broadcast their activity to their friends. As long as you and your friends are sharing your activities, you will be able to see which channels they are watching, broadcasting, or even what games they are playing in some cases, and vice versa.

Can Twitch see lurkers? ›

Remember to appreciate all your viewers, even the lurkers on Twitch. They're helping you grow just as much as anyone else! So, can twitch streamers see who's watching? Yes, they can!

How long does Twitch keep chat history? ›

Twitch stores chat logs for as long as the corresponding stream video is stored. Twitch maintains VODs (and thus chat logs) for regular broadcasters for 14 days. For Twitch Partners, Turbo, and Prime users, this duration extends to 60 days.

Why did I receive money from Twitch? ›

You receive a payout once a month if your balance from your last payment exceeds the $50 or $100 threshold.

How do I stop Twitch from charging me? ›

You may cancel a subscription at any time by navigating to your Subscriptions Management Page, locating the subscription you wish to cancel, and clicking the cog on the upper-right. From there, select Don't Renew Subscription, and confirming your cancellation on the next page.

What is a Twitch subscription? ›

Subscriptions (aka subs) A Subscription allows a viewer to pay a minimum of $4.99 per month to support your channel, either on a recurring or one-time basis. Subscribers (subs) get access to your emotes and other benefits you can define.

What is the purpose of a Twitch account? ›

Creating an account on Twitch allows you to interact with creators and the community via chat, follow your favorite creators to receive alerts when they go live, and broadcast to the Twitch community from your channel.

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