Is 2015 the Year of the Streamer? Twitch’s 2014 Statistics Point to Yes

Twitch has released its annual report, and 2014 was a big year for them. First, they were acquired by Amazon for a massive $1 billion, which equated to $970 million in cash. And now Twitch revealed that they hit an impressive milestone of 100 million unique viewers per month. The statistics keep improving, since the site also hit a peak of 1 million concurrent viewers, 11 million total videos broadcast per month, and 1.5 million unique broadcasters per month.

Twitch reached its popularity by having users stream popular games such as Dota 2, League of Legends, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, or any new video game releases. Now, Twitch has licensed over 500 tracks that streamers can use without worrying about copyright violations. Twitch says they also plan on continuously adding music to their selection to keep gamers up-to-date on the hottest, copyright-free EDM music that Twitch streams are known for. However, if you export your content with the music and post it on YouTube, you might get flagged for copyright violation.

So why is 2015 the year of the streamer? Well, competition suggests that Twitch and their ever popular live-streaming may hold a new market in gaming. Competitors are popping up left and right, between Dailymotion and Valve, both of whom have launched their own streaming service. On Twitch, People who watch the stream can donate to the streamer for their efforts, and some gamers are so popular they could make a living off of their subscribers and donators. Twitch will continue to be the pioneer in live-streaming, and with their recent acquisition from Amazon and a huge fanbase with 1.5 unique broadcasters per month, they’re sure to keep the lead.

Even in the e-sports scene, Twitch is the leading service for tournaments, such as the current 2015 Dota 2 Asia Championship. They also stream many huge events from first person shooter tournaments like Counter Strike: Global Offensive to MOBA tournaments like League of Legends.

Twitch continued to break new grounds outside of video games by live-streaming non-gaming events, such as concerts, and now they will soon stream their first-ever live TV viewing event in partnership with TBS, as part of a promotion for the upcoming season of the cable network’s geek-competition series “King of the Nerds”.

Categories: NEWS, PC

Tags: amazon, CS:GO, Dota 2, PC, streaming, Twitch