The livestreaming community has seen plenty of ups and downs this year, and yet through it all, Twitch still stands as the premier option for those looking to step into the world of streaming games and more. It's no surprise that the huge streaming service continues to persevere, even after a year with just as many consistent controversies as there were milestones. Even to this day, Twitch continues to experience numerous scandals and controversies on behalf of the creators on the service, and from the service itself. Yet, despite all this, Twitch viewership continues to soar during a time where many are sheltering-in-place or working from home.
As strange of a year 2020 has been for the rest of the games industry, Twitch has also experienced quite the eventful year in tandem. Livestreaming in general has had a boost across other services like Facebook Gaming and YouTube, but Twitch remains at the forefront of game streaming specifically. For every milestone Twitch seems to have achieved this year, it's been met with equal (arguably more) controversies as well. Whether it's been the prevalence of ambiguous DMCA strikes, creator bans, accusations of abuse or favoritism, backlash against mid-roll advertisements, among other issues, Twitch has had a year filled with plenty of ups and downs.
Explosions in Popularity for Games on Twitch
Games and developers themselves have seen huge boosts from Twitch streamers, a positive byproduct of games (big and small) being played and enjoyed by streamers. Earlier this year, it helped boost Riot Games' jump into the FPS space with Valorant, as beta drops ushered in tons of new players to the game. Call of Duty: Warzone supplanted Fortnite as the most popular battle royale, at least for a little while. Besides triple-A games, tons of smaller indie projects received a lot of love from Twitch this year. There was the explosion of Fall Guys' popularity on Twitch (and PS Plus) this summer, Among Us' huge popularity this fall, as well as Phasmophobia's Halloween surge this past October.
Overall viewership boosted even higher after Mixer, Microsoft's effort in game streaming, came to a close this summer in the wake of dwindling viewership. While Mixer ended up partnering with Facebook Gaming for existing streamers to transition, many still choose to move on with Twitch's platform anyway. Tons of new viewers brought significant boosts to games like Fortnite, which saw a significant resurgence this summer. At the same time, not all games were created equal. As several new and well-established games saw consistent viewership, new titles like Hyper Scape had a tough time making waves in Twitch's often nebulous virality.
Controversy on the Twitch Platform
2020 brought a renewed focus on Twitch's presence as the premier livestreaming site, highlighting the issues as well as the strong points of its platform. A lot of good things have come from Twitch in 2020, like the heavier focus on mental health awareness and support for streamers. Twitch even established and appointed key members of the community to a safety advisory council, but even that choice was met with controversy.
Despite issues with Twitch's official platform approach, entities like HealthyGamer.gg have picked up the slack and engaged in important conversations with the Twitch community. Reckful, a famous World of Warcraft streamer who lost his life earlier this year to suicide, was one of the many creators who've spoken with Healthy Gamer's Dr. Kanojia live on Twitch.
Twitch also had quite a reckoning earlier this summer, when various industries were reporting on sexual assault and misconduct throughout the entertainment world. As it turned out, Twitch's community was not immune to this either, as many notable streamers like Cryaotic were banned due to these allegations. Bans didn't stop there, as just when everything seemed to start quieting down, DMCA takedowns and bans were being issued once again to various streamers due to the use of copyrighted music. This has consistently been an issue for Twitch, but even as early as this month, DMCA takedowns have become far more common and impactful for streamers as big as xQc.
Twitch's Year of Ups and Downs
Outside of Twitch itself, there's also been plenty of controversy surrounding the platform's various creators as well. Various members of the WWE have been forced off the platform due to a new commission ruling for its wrestlers, which effectively prevents them from pursuing their own Twitch channels. The United States' various branches of the Armed Forces have seen controversy as well for creating their own Twitch channels, which many argued could be a misleading indoctrination of the younger generation into the Army/Navy/etc. Then there's the whole mystery with Dr. Disrespect's ban and subsequent controversy, which is a whole other can of worms.
Overall, it's been a strange year for Twitch, but ultimately, the platform still remains the premier place for watching streamers live. Despite all of the bad the Twitch platform can breed, it still garners the most live viewers over platforms like Facebook Gaming and YouTube. The site even got a sitting congresswoman to play Among Us to the debut of several hundred thousand viewers.
Despite this, it's still important for viewers and content creators to demand the best from the platform, and the company behind it. Many of these scandals and controversies have all been in service of making the Twitch community a better place for all. On the eve of a new console generation, Twitch still remains a mainstay for creators and viewers in the games industry.