For some reason it’s a thing I’ve never tried before, but it seems like I might be in the minority. Twitch streaming on the PS4 looks set to be one of those plain old good ideas. Just a couple of months post-release and the PlayStation 4 is accounting for a whopping 20% of the Twitch userbase when it comes to broadcasting. That’s a big number.
It’s a percentage that’s sure to grow substantially in the coming months as both Twitch and the PS4 gain momentum.
“Ever since we began working with the major console platform companies, we were confident the integration of live broadcasting to Twitch would be a game changer,” said Matthew DiPietro, VP Marketing, Twitch. “Based on our success with PlayStation 4, which currently represents 20% of our broadcaster base, our vision was on the mark. We envision a day when broadcasting your gameplay is a ubiquitous piece of the gaming experience. We’re well on our way.”
A ubiquitous piece of the gaming experience: I’m not sure about that. Some people, I’m sure, will prefer to play unbroadcasted, but there is a movement with Twitch streaming, and it’s growing rapidly. The Xbox One didn’t ship with Twitch functionality but it’s on the way. When that happens, and more people hop on board, this is going to become a fairly big deal.
Comments
28 responses to “Twitch Streaming On The PlayStation 4 Is A Pretty Big Deal”
How does Twitch make money to pay for this?
Ads.
Ad revenue and Sony almost definitely throws a few bucks their way.
I personally don’t watch that many livestreams, but there have been the few occasions where I’ve wanted to watch an international tournament over Twitch, except on my big TV in the lounge room, only to have the idea thwarted due to a lack of devices that can actually play back twitch AND hook up to my TV.
Having Twitch built into the PS4 is actually quite a good idea. 🙂
How do you find actually interesting stuff? Lots of content and nothing to watch – we should equate success when we have quality over quantity
I don’t get it.
I don’t see why someone would want to watch me play a game, I’m not especially funny, good looking or even good at playing games (except maybe Skate2, and that’s a maybe) and i suspect most people are in the same boat as me (it’s a big boat), just a regular dude playing games.
Maybe it’s because i’m not part of that generation that feels the need to tell everyone all the time every single inane detail about their uninteresting life because they think people care. I am under no such illusion and I don’t need the constant validation.
The only time I could see this as useful would be as a walkthrough by someone that knows the game really well and you can refer to it if you get stuck as it’s easier to follow than a text guide. Even then that person would have to know their shit better than most to warrant people coming to them for knowledge on whatever game it is. But as a “ubiquitous piece of the gaming experience” i just don’t see it unless it’s built into the gameplay somehow, which for the majority of games that will come out, it won’t be.
I like to watch someone livestream to get a feel for if I like a game. With demoes mostly no longer a thing, it’s good to get some idea about how the game plays.
I get that, but i would think it would be better to watch someone who knows what they are doing play a bit of a game, rather than someone fumbling around for the first time. Which would most likely be someone experienced in that game who has purposefully set out to learn and then share their knowledge of it rather than just some regualr Joe saying “watch me play this game for the first time just because they can”.
I had this same feeling as well @roh when I first found out about Twitch and watching people live stream games. So 1 year ago I thought I would see what the fuss was about and log onto Twitch and watch a few streams. At first I got bored very quickly but then I found streamers that I found interesting and enjoyed watching play games.
Now I wouldnt say im hooked watching Twitch all the time but what I did find is that it turned me into a streamer myself!! As soon as the NBN was installed in my new home I started streaming most of my game playing time. I have a few regular watchers and most of them are Aussie as they enjoy watching someone who is in the same country as them. I have a regular schedule and stream every Tues, Thurs, Fri and Sunday.
I still dont understand why poeple want to watch me play but someone mentioned in my stream a great comparison to a similar activity a few years ago which started to make sense. “Chat Rooms” only 10-15 years ago internet user would log into chat rooms and talk about pretty much anything but mainly things they were interested in and I still didnt see the point behind this either. But people still did it and Twitch is just a step up from that as it has the chat function on the side of the live stream and user can chat about a game the streamer is playing and also about an industry that they love. That made sense….finally
But it aint for everyone so its there for people who want to use it. If you want please drop by my stream http://www.twitch.tv/quinstaTV and AMA.
Hmmm interesting take on it.
Seconded. If I have any interest in a game the last thing I want to do is watch someone else play it and spoil it for me.
I watch Vageta311 and he (and the viewers) treat it the same way as you would if a bunch of friends were hanging out in the living room. There are even people who play their own games while having his stream running in the background, chatting via the channel every so often. I suspect this is probably what most people beyond the celebrities do with Twitch. Use it as a way to play games and socialise. It’s essentially a virtual version of hanging out at a game arcade.
Wouldn’t it be just like cross game chat or talking on the phone if you are playing a game of your own and not paying attention to the actual game streaming? In that case twitch isn’t necessary.
I don’t know, I enjoy watching you while you play games…
but i don’t…..
OH FUCK.
Thirded, this shizzle ain’t fo mah bizzle.
Word.
Yeah, I agree. I’d rather be playing games than watching other people play them.
I definitely see a use for the “Share” button if something cool happens in a game that I want to show my friends. But just streaming my entire session (or watching other people stream theirs) just has no appeal to me.
But I suppose that, as this article shows, there are a lot of people to whom it does appeal, so more power to them, I guess.
I think the ‘share’ button would be cool if something weird/cool/funny happens and you want to show your mates, but just streaming all your sessions all the time just seems pointless and narcissistic.
Indeed. And I’m not going to sit there and watch my mate play BF4 for 2 hours in the hope that something funny happens. If it happens he can press the share button, edit it down to 30 seconds, stick it on Facebook and I’ll watch it later.
I’m with ya.
But that’s the thing, the people who are popular on Twitch aren’t just ‘regular dudes.’ They’ve accrued large viewerships because either because they’re excellent at the game (the esports crowd), they’re extremely funny (the “Let’s Play” people) or they have breasts and as we all know, cute girls who share our interests is apparently aphrodisiac for nerds.
Twitch works very well with any kind of competition in games. If ladders and seasons start showing up then you will see some major interest in ppl wanting to watch the “championships”
If you get stuck at some point in a game you can ask the NSA for help/tips/cheats.
I would love to stream, hell I would even love to operate a Youtube channel.
Not on my ADSL1 connection though.
When I first got my PS4 mid-december I tried out Twitch & UStream. They are great services but our shitty Australian internet caps our upload at very minimal speeds, rendering these services almost useless.
So yeah. Unless you are one of the lucky few on the new NBN installations you’re pretty much screwed.
Never been into live streaming, I’m an edited experience man to my core. Live has way too much dead air to be interesting
I don’t mind, as long as i get to see Bischu play <3.