Twitch plans to take on YouTube by broadening its content to expand beyond gaming
- Twitch has announced plans to broaden its content from video game streaming
- The site hopes to better compete with YouTube and to attract more ad revenue
- The website was acquired by a tech giant in 2014 in a multimillion dollar deal
Popular video game streaming website Twitch is reportedly looking to broaden its content dramatically, specifically towards the sort of lifestyle vloggers that have achieved success on YouTube.
Long the favored streaming platform for players of popular video games like Fortnite and Overwatch, a new report from Bloomberg has indicated that the website plans to ‘aggressively broaden’ its content to better compete with YouTube and to attract additional advertising revenue.
To kick start their new strategy, Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, has reportedly reached out to dozens of media personalities and companies on YouTube for exclusive deals.
Video games like Fortnite, pictured above, have long served as Twitch’s content foundation
The prospective deals will reportedly be ‘as much as a few million dollars a year’ and include sharing subscription and advertising revenue. Some deals have also reportedly closed so far, though not all streamers have agreed with the website’s terms.
According to Twitch Interactive Inc.’s senior vice president of content: ‘There will be a steady drumbeat of lots of new content we’re bringing on. We’re growing well, and that makes us an attractive destination for people looking to do new things in live, interactive entertainment.’
Despite expanding its programming to include nongaming content in recent years, the website has remained primarily focused on video game content.
Since Amazon took control of Twitch in 2014, it made an effort to branch out its content from being exclusively focused on gaming to include new programming such as sports and comedy as well as Twitch Creative, a channel open to non-gamers for streaming their content.
The website will still retain all of its livestreaming features under the company’s new content strategy.
What is Twitch?
Twitch is a livestreaming website that specializes in video game content.
Launched in June 2011 as a spinoff of the website Justin.tv, the website soon passed the original site in popularity, garnering 45 million unique viewers in October 2013. In August 2014, it was acquired by Amazon for $970 million (£764 million) and remains the largest livestreaming service for video games in the U.S., boasting 15 million active daily users as of May 2018.
Advertisement