What is Twitch? Everything you need to know about

If you're a gamer and you've never used Twitch, you don't know what you're missing, especially fans of strategy and MMO style games. But beyond gamers, the platform is great for fans of music, talk shows, sports, travel and food. Check out a review of Twitch's most notable features.

Twitch's Top 10 Streamers

What is Twitch?

Twitch is a live streaming platform focused on games. Founded by Justin Kan in 2011, it was originally a spin-off from Justin.tv. Justin.tv was a website created by Justin Kan, Emmett Shear, Michael Seibel and Kyle Vogt in 2007 to allow anyone to stream videos online.

Twitch was relaunched in late 2007, allowing users to create their own channels and stream their own content through the platform.

How does Twitch work?

Twitch gives content creators the ability to stream their activities for viewers to watch in real time. Streams can last from one minute to eight hours or even longer.

You can find content to watch by browsing various categories, including specific games. If you find a streamer you like, you can follow their channel and get activity updates and notifications.

Since launch, Twitch has partnered with gaming companies such as Blizzard Entertainment and Overwatch League to host worldwide gaming events exclusive to the platform.

How broadcasts work

When you're watching a live stream, a split screen will let you see what the streamer sees on your monitor. But you'll also be able to hear and see it through a smaller window at the edge of the stream.

Twitch also allows users to purchase games through links, so streamers earn a sales commission as well as the opportunity to sell products associated with their content using affiliate links.

When watching a Twitch stream, you can comment, and depending on the channel, you may also be able to do things like make suggestions or questions, and get answers in real-time. Twitch also saves streams, so you have the option to watch past streams.

Finally, the platform has apps for iOS and Android, in addition to a browser version.

Twitch glossary explained

1. Follows: People who are interested in your streams may decide to follow you. These users can also choose to receive notifications from Twitch whenever you go online.
2. Chat: Each streamer receives a chat room with their account, and it is possible to deactivate it.
3. Subscriptions or Subs: Once you are an affiliate, you can charge your subscribers a monthly fee. Subscribers can choose to pay on a one-time or recurring basis. They have access to your emotes and other perks that you define.
4. emotes: Twitch offers a vast library of emotes, which can be used to express reactions during chat and streaming. Affiliates and partners can create custom emotes.
5. ads: Twitch Partners and Affiliates can run ads on their channels and earn money from them. These are visible on page load or midstream depending on your ad settings.
6. Templates: To give your channel a different look, Twitch allows you to use ready-made templates. Templates include all the customizable parts of your channel, including dashboards, overlays, banners, avatars, and alerts.
7. Extensions: You can connect extensions with the Twitch Extension Manager on your channel. Using extensions, your subscribers can create leaderboards, polls and mini-games.
   
8. Bits: Bits are bundles of emoticons on Twitch, which you can buy or acquire for free by watching ads. That way you can financially support a channel.
9. Merch by Amazon: If you are an Amazon account holder and Twitch partner, you can sign up for Merch by Amazon and earn every time a custom merchandise is sold on your channel.
10. TwitchPrime: Twitch offers a subscription to Twitch Prime, priced at R$9,90 per month or R$89 per year. The subscriber is entitled to extra content for "Grand Theft Auto Online", "Red Dead Online", "Apex Legends", "EA Sports FIFA 20", "League of Legends", among other games.

Impressive stats about Twitch

• 2,9 million average concurrent Twitch viewers as of February 2021 (Twitch Tracker).
• 9,5 million active streamers as of February 2021 (Twitch Tracker).
• Ninja is the most followed user on Twitch with 17 million followers as of March 2021 (SocialBlade).
• The most viewed channel (of all time) on Twitch is Fextralife (SocialBlade).
• Highest number of Twitch viewers ever concomitant accounts for 2,4 million for reveal of Fortnite skin "The Grefg's" (Twitch Stats).
• "El Rubius" recorded the highest average concurrent views of 2020 with 57.000 views (TwitchStats).
• 41% of Twitch users are between 16 and 24 years old and 32% are between 25 and 34 years old (GlobalWebIndex).
• 65% of Twitch users are male and 35% are female (GlobalWebIndex).
• 2 billion hours of Twitch content watched in February 2021 (Twitch Tracker).
• Twitch has a market share of 67% of hours of content watched and 90% of content streamed (Streamlab/Stream Hatchet).
• Twitch earned Amazon, its owner, $1,54 billion in revenue for the year 2019, more than the $1,46 billion generated by YouTube Gaming. (The Loadout).