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Twitch could be a $20B company within Amazon

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Re: Twitch could be a $20B company within Amazon

#131

Post by alexandre_m »

kazagistar wrote: post #114
alexandre_m wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My comment wasn't only targeting Twitch, nor only live streaming. Just take for example all those YouTube channels where you can access a replay of a whole game on demand. I just did a couple of weeks ago with the latest Resident Evil HD remaster because I was fond of this game I played back in 1996. I thought about buying a copy. I wanted to revisit it. Well not anymore. I just skipped through the important cinemati…

For me its the opposite. I watch the start of a playthough and if I find it interesting, then I get the game, when otherwise I would not have given it a try. I think that game companies are more thrilled about free advertising to people like me then they are worried about people like you... at least for now. If that balance shifts, things might get ugly.

It's not an all or nothing situation, far from it.

Platforms like Twitch definitely help to hype new games and make good free advertising. Most companies should leverage this. For someone who works in the video game industry, I do see the value in that.

On the other hand, it can be harmful for certain types of games (linear/story driven, like pointed out).

Not only that, but I think the way the revenues from those streams are shared is very unfair.

Think about it; this market is growing and the pie is getting bigger. Yet, right now the money is split only between the platform service and the streamer, either by advertising or donations, but without anything to the IP owner.

Movie and music organisations like MPAA and RIAA have taken very agressive stance against digital copyright infringement since the millenium.

Video game industry has been more forgivable so far, but doesn't mean it won't take a stand eventually.

Re: Twitch could be a $20B company within Amazon

#132

Post by partiallypro »

I honestly think the game streaming model is sustainable, but it's also a bit of a fad that will die down in 5-7 years. I also think Sony and Microsoft will begin to make their own portals of game streaming that will challenge Twitch. Microsoft just made an acquisition that points to this. That's not to say they want to kill Twitch, just that they see its value. In doing so though, it will squeeze the margin on advertising revenues, couple that with just demographic shifts in the social fad and I believe it will not grow near as fast as people forecast As for valuation, I don't know the numbers, it could be worth billions; but $20 Billion seems like a stretch when CBS is only worth $22 Billion and Viacom $18 Billion at present. I wonder what their actual financials look like, I feel like there is more monetary incentives and opportunities for the content creators than for Twitch itself.

Re: Twitch could be a $20B company within Amazon

#133

Post by pavs »

shostack wrote: post #77
AndrewWarner wrote: post #18

Maybe the most useful interview I've ever done on Mixergy is with Twitch's cofounder about how he founded the company. Do yourself a favor and get the transcript. He's super-methodical. https://docs.google.com/document/d/11Bcu32XwL4S0BHB2fybaqRRQ...

That's awesome. You should consider posting it as a .epub or .mobi file!

With Google doc you can do "File -> Download as -> epub / pdf" and other formats.

Re: Twitch could be a $20B company within Amazon

#135

Post by thaumasiotes »

mastax wrote: post #81
nommm-nommm wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the drawbacks?

My perspective: - Purchasing - Downloading - Installing - Patching - Commitment - Mechanical Skill It allows you to experience the story of a game or the experience of high skill play with little up-front cost or long-term commitment.

One you've left out: hours wasted farming experience or searching around for whatever you're supposed to do next tend to just be cut out of let's plays. (You still need to suffer through those if you're watching a stream; the advantage of a stream over an edited video seems to be mainly that it provides a social group to hang out with.)

Re: Twitch could be a $20B company within Amazon

#136

Post by alexandre_m »

TheGRS wrote: post #40
hoodoof wrote: post #34

Game developers don't have any option except to restrict public display of their games in some way. There are now plenty of people who enjoy watching but not playing games. Game developers need revenue for this firstly because they deserve it, having made the entertainment, but secondly because former players are now just watchers and not paying money, reducing revenue. My guess is that games developers will permit p…

Maybe, though streaming seems to me like more of a form of free marketing for these publishers than anything. Watching a game being played several times over will probably turn into a sale for a lot of people (though not everyone). If you have a multiplayer game and want to make some money from the streams, it would be smart to host your own tournament and sell ads through it rather than charging royalties. Otherwise…

It depends on what type of games.

Games like Dota2, Call of Duty, etc. require some strategy and will be a different experience each time (especially on multiplayers).

If you think about "Beyond two souls", well not that much.

On the other spectrum, you also have to consider copyright infringement and royalties as a problem on its own. Why should some individuals make money by reproducing the content (totally in some cases) without having to pay any royalties at all?

Am I allowed to stream the latest Star Wars with me in the corner making comments along?

Movie is passive and game is active, to some extent yes, but for how long can we disassociate both mediums in terms of IP?

Re: Twitch could be a $20B company within Amazon

#137

Post by ChuckMcM »

dexwiz wrote: post #2

Amazon bought two things with Twitch: 1) A social community 2) a monetization model. The video service itself is secondary. The past several years has shown the social communities grow organically. But its hard to make users adopt one. If you build it, they probably won't come. It's easier for a big company to buy one up than start one from scratch. (Think Instagram versus Google Plus). Second, Twitch is one of the f…

If this thesis holds true:

   > The past several years has shown the social 
   > communities grow organically. But its hard to
   > make users adopt one. If you build it, they probably
   > won't come. It's easier for a big company to buy one
   > up than start one from scratch. (Think Instagram
   > versus Google Plus).
Then the best use of someone's time might be to start as many social networks as possible on the possibility that one of them develops enough community to go "big." At which point you sell it to the highest bidder. Sort of "community farming" on a meta level.

Re: Twitch could be a $20B company within Amazon

#139

Post by NhanH »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #137
dexwiz wrote: post #2

Amazon bought two things with Twitch: 1) A social community 2) a monetization model. The video service itself is secondary. The past several years has shown the social communities grow organically. But its hard to make users adopt one. If you build it, they probably won't come. It's easier for a big company to buy one up than start one from scratch. (Think Instagram versus Google Plus). Second, Twitch is one of the f…

If this thesis holds true: > The past several years has shown the social > communities grow organically. But its hard to > make users adopt one. If you build it, they probably > won't come. It's easier for a big company to buy one > up than start one from scratch. (Think Instagram > versus Google Plus). Then the best use of someone's time might be to start as many social networks as possible on the possibility that o…

If all else equal, I'd imagine that's true. However, starting multiple things while keeping high product quality might not be that simple, despite popular belief that social networks are "easy".

Re: Twitch could be a $20B company within Amazon

#140

Post by beachy »

andreasklinger wrote: post #112
duaneb wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you think appletv will ever support Amazon video? The iOS app definitely needs chrome cast support.

i didnt mean that i think for now every of the big players will create their own apps/boxes - i imagine "prime TV" at some point the fragmentation will annoy customers so much that they will find ways to combine - but that's in 5-10 years

Might never happen.

Chromecast is so cheap that its probably putting downwards price pressure on the devices themselves. And I don't personally have any issue flicking between all of my various "set top" boxes: chromecast, WD Live, Apple TV, old school dvd player, Tivo. After all, what issues does this fragmentation cause, apart from a bit of a mess of HDMI cables, and a shortage of HDMI ports on the TV?

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