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TRENDS

2025 September 22, 23

Level: Low

The Wild World of Twitch

by David Morton

The platform that changed the game

22

Imagine a place where you can watch people play video games, cook delicious meals or even chat about board games — all in real time! That describes Twitch, one of the biggest live-streaming platforms in the world.

  Twitch was created by two college graduates who saw the power of live content. It began as part of Justin.tv, a streaming site launched in 2007 by two Yale graduates, Justin Kan and Emmett Shear. The platform covered a variety of topics, but gaming content quickly became the most popular. Seeing this demand, the creators launched a separate platform in June 2011 that focused entirely on gaming — Twitch.tv. Today, Twitch makes its content as available and diverse as it can. It hosts music performances, sports commentaries, art shows and even casual Just Chatting shows where streamers talk with their fans.

  Seeing its potential, Amazon bought it for $970 million in 2014. Now Twitch has millions of streamers and over 31 million daily viewers. With such variety, it’s like a giant digital concert, coffee shop and gaming stadium all in one.