Twitch Co-Founder Kevin Lin has announced his departure from the live streaming platform after years of working with the company. Lin published a blog post on Medium detailing his move and thanking fans of the service for their longtime support of the platform, emphasizing how much of a difference Twitch's growth has had on his life.
Lin doesn't specifically state what he's leaving Twitch to pursue, though he does state that he'll spend some time with family, as well as relaxing and playing video games. Lin went on to write that he wants to build something again, which he hopes will have an impact equal to Twitch and make the world a better place. With Lin's departure from the company, the only remaining co-founder working at Twitch is CEO Emmet Shear.
The Twitch community itself also received a big shout out, with Lin thanking it for growing the platform into what it is today. In the post, Lin specifically thanks fans for "keeping Twitch Twitch," seemingly meaning negative feedback from the community that has kept the brand's identity intact throughout the years. The platform has undergone major shifts since its debut, with the community frequently being a big factor in those shifts.
Lin's departure from Twitch comes at an interesting time for the company. Recent DMCA takedowns have affected a large number of content creators on the platform, with the copyright strikes seemingly coming in one sudden wave. The debacle has caused tensions to arise in the community, with many unhappy with the current systems Twitch has in place to handle copyright issues. Lin's post doesn't mention these recent problems, and it isn't clear if the two are related at all.
In the years since it launched, Twitch has experienced explosive growth, shaking the very foundation of the gaming industry and driving video game developers to be mindful of content creators. Its effects on contemporary video games can't be understated, and may even mark one of the most significant shifts for video games ever.
In 2014, Amazon acquired Twitch, adding new features and stoking some controversy along the way. Twitch is now home to a large number of internet personalities, many of whom are beginning to find popularity in the mainstream because of their followings. It doesn't seem that Twitch — or the creators it produces — has hit a ceiling yet, making the future of the platform all the more interesting. However, there will undoubtedly be eyes on Lin in the future to see if he can replicate the success elsewhere.