Mixer wins another Twitch superstar. Shroud announced he was leaving the world’s most popular streaming platform, surprising fans and the streaming community. While shroud isn’t the first big name to make this decision, it does show that Mixer is ready to declare war on Twitch.
But shroud’s career decision is actually quite risky. Twitch is obviously more popular, with more resources than Microsoft’s streaming service. And if Ninja, who is considered the most popular streamer in the world, doesn’t even keep the same number of viewers on Mixer as he did on Twitch, what will shroud be like?
Mixer confronts stream tycoon Twitch
Mixer’s declaration of war began when the streaming service convinced Fortnite superstar Ninja to switch to their platform, promising a lucrative contract and the ability to grow his brand beyond games. While many believe Ninja was “tempted” by Mixer’s offer, his wife and manager Jessica Blevins said Twitch tried to limit Ninja’s copyright rights during contract negotiations.
The fact that Mixer wooed Ninja seems like a coincidence – the streamer wasn’t happy with Twitch’s contract, Mixer gave him what he wanted, and so the partnership formed. For those who think the process of “robbing” Microsoft’s streamer will stop here, you will still be surprised.
Shroud was also stolen by Mixer. And to stay true to his dislike of drama, the streamer explained his decision to join Mixer quite simply: “I think this is the best decision for my career.” It’s unclear how much Mixer is paying shroud, but it’s certainly a number that beats any amount Twitch is willing to offer.
Bringing in Ninja and shroud means Microsoft has the money and determination to take on Twitch. With shroud’s departure, Twitch lost two of its top three stars. Ninja hasn’t streamed at Twitch in over 3 months and still has the most followers on the platform with more than 14 million, double the number of Tfue and shroud (according to statistics from TwitchMetrics).
Mixer’s signing of shroud just three months after teaming up with Ninja begs the question: Who’s next? Could it be Dr DisResepct? Likely not, as Doc admits he’s been approached by Mixer before and feels the streaming service doesn’t have as much engagement or longevity as Twitch. What about Ninja’s longtime colleague, TimTheTatman? Very possible. Or will Microsoft try to grab former professional Fortnite player, Tfue? Maybe.
Will the collaboration between Mixer and shroud bring success?
One thing is pretty clear – shroud was paid. And if he used to make a lot of money just from Twitch, you can believe he’s swimming in the money now. But can shroud’s Mixer channel break his own record on Twitch?
The streamer currently has 360,000 followers on Mixer, far from 7 million on Twitch. Ninja currently reaches nearly 2.5 million followers on Mixer in the first 3 months of cooperation, which is an admirable number. But it’s still too small compared to the 14 million he used to have on Twitch.
While Mixer hoped the Ninja mission would help their platform grow rapidly, things did not go so. In Q3 2019, Mixer ranked 4th in watch hours, behind Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch, according to statistics from StreamElements.
The original goal of the Ninja acquisition was to encourage viewers to follow other streamers on Mixer, but we haven’t seen any noticeable changes yet. Even so, Mixer is still on track, hitting twice as many watch hours compared to last year. But Twitch is still the Goliath in the viewership war, and it looks like the market still doesn’t have a real David.
Ninja’s average viewership on Twitch in July was 38,000, while his Mixer average viewership over the past 14 days was 12,000 (as noted by Twitchtracker). For comparison, shroud’s Twitch viewership over the past 14 days is approximately 36,000. If it’s the same with Ninja, then shroud will probably fall to about 11,000 consecutive viewers.
Other companies have also failed to take on Twitch. Azubu.tv has collaborated with big names from League of Legends, like SK Telecom T1’s Faker. Due to poor budget management, as well as the right to stream League of Legends increased from one to three million dollars in 2016, Azubu closed and was inherited by Smashcast.tv.
What will help Mixer avoid the fall of Azubu? Financial backing from Microsoft.
While Mixer takes an Azubu-like approach to recruiting big names to represent the company, it has plenty of money to keep making financial decisions – whether it pays off or not.
In misfortune, there is still luck
Admittedly, Mixer has a hard time keeping up with Twitch. Ninja understands that. So is Shroud. Microsoft probably realizes it too. If the YouTube video mogul falls to Twitch – about 600,000 watch hours less than in September 2019 – this is probably a very distant dream for Mixer.
But that doesn’t mean Mixer can’t make a big impact on the overall streaming market. The company clearly knows how to entice big streamers. Ninja and shroud make millions on Twitch and they’re willing to leave to earn more from Mixer.
Twitch has recently been criticized by the community for its vague terms of service. Some streamers get banned outright for very minor infractions, while serious violators are ignored.
Although Mixer has not been able to gain a large market share, at least now the platform is gradually being valued by competitors.
According to Dot Esports
Source link: Mixer vs Twitch: David vs Goliath
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