ETEC 544: Intellectual Production #7: Playing Online: Twitch Broadcasting
You’ve read the two articles, which approach streaming from an audience and a producer point of view. Your task — watch 3 different TWITCH gameplay streams, then working back to the readings, what did you observe that specifically is referenced in the texts, and what is left out? Make sure you focus on both production and spectatorship. This can be multimodal (e.g. take screenshots to support your point/s). No more than 1000 words.
“Streaming is hard.” This is a phrase I am actually known for saying live on stream every time I make a mistake or have to solve a technical problem. Those who watch me often have heard me say it a number of times. While I consider myself an above-average quality content creator and have experience dealing with countless issues that could occur during a live stream, the fact of the matter is “streaming is hard.” This is why it is all the more impressive that streaming has evolved into a massive entertainment medium with 2.78m average concurrent viewers on Twitch alone in 2021 (TwitchTracker.com, n.d.)
I was drawn to live streaming for reasons not dissimilar to others creating content online: I love video games, I love sharing my love for video games, I enjoy connecting with people in different ways, and believe it or not, I enjoy the technical aspects of creating high quality, well-produced content. Full-time streamers will spend incredible amounts of money on their computers, their “overlays”, their logos and branding, lighting, desk and workspace, intro, outro, and transition videos - honestly, the list goes on and on. All three streamers I watched for the purpose of this assignment are incredibly well-known, some of the biggest in the business. They have a number of things in common, not the least of which is that they have all invested considerable amounts of thought and money to ensure their stream is the best stream online at that time. Dr. Lupo’s PC setup is worth close to $25,000. While it was supplied by a sponsor, the willingness to devote huge amounts of money to a computer setup for content creation speaks to the importance of the setup within the ecosystem of things a streamer needs to be concerned about. My setup is approaching the $10,000 value mark with plenty of potential upgrades possible. Streaming is hard, but we do it anyway.
“While it is easy to see a site like Twitch as just people gaming, looking closely at the components of successful broadcasts, with the creativity, labor, and systems that make them possible, pushes us to
reckon with something much more. ”
Talk to any streamer about their content and you will hear a similar refrain. First is showing appreciation to the viewers who show up for every stream and donate money. This leads to the obvious statements related to it being surreal that they are making money from playing video games. In some cases, like me for example, it then morphs into the realization that it could all be over one day, or that you can’t play games on stream forever. That being said, the appreciation that someone can play video games and people will simply sit and watch them do that is surreal. All three streamers I observed thank their viewers, in particular those who subscribe or gift money directly to the streamer. One observation I find common in the difference between well-known creators like Lupo and Timthetatman and small streamers like myself is there is a smaller focus on the small interactions that occur constantly during a stream. You will not find big streamers thanking new followers for example. There are simply too many of them. While a small streamer like myself may acquire 2-5 new followers in a three-hour stream, a streamer like Lupo is likely to add 800-1000 new followers in the same amount of time. You frankly can’t thank them all.
An incredible commonality between Dr. Lupo, Timthetatman, and Dr. Disrespect is the passion of their fanbases. In every stream there are hundreds, if not thousands, of viewers waiting for them to go live. It is not uncommon for one of their streams to start right away with over 10,000 people watching. There is definitely some strategy at play to ensure this is the case, not the least of which being the importance of a regular, daily schedule but not unlike knowing when your favourite TV show was going to be on (in the pre-PVR age) viewers are very aware of when the streamers they like to watch are going to be online. A regular schedule, and appreciative streamer are just two of the many factors contributing to the relationship that exists between the creator and audience.
“Even before he began streaming, there were seven hundred people already on his channel hanging out in chat waiting for him.”
“It seems that streamers—comparable to media personae within the framework of PSRs—bond with their audience, which makes it even more enjoyable to watch them play.”
There’s no doubt that all three of the creators I’ve referenced cater to a similar audience. In fact, these three are known to play together live on stream on a regular basis. These streamers have a very detailed knowledge of their audience and, I believe, they entertain for that audience specifically - that audience being primarily white, single men in the 18-30 age range. They are irreverent and brash. Don’t let that persona fool you though. All three creators are smart and very aware of their audience and the content they are creating in order to appease them. Their audiences do not necessarily expect them to be the absolute best at the game they are playing - in fact, Timthetatman experienced record-setting audiences during an entertaining multi-day streak of playing the game Fall Guys very poorly.
Dr. Lupo, Timthetatman, and Dr. Disrespect are masters of the craft. Regardless of your taste in entertainers, one can’t deny that the investments they’ve made in production and hardware have paid off as they stream for tens of thousands of viewers on a daily basis and earn upwards of 3 million dollars per year doing it. They are appreciative of their audience, thanking them constantly for supporting them. Thanks is the only thing viewers are looking for as they form a bond with their favourite content creator.
References
Twitch Statistics & Charts. TwitchTracker. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://twitchtracker.com/statistics
YouTube. (2020, October 2). Drlupo's 3 PC streaming setup! YouTube. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J04UVVM1aCQ
Taylor, T. L. (2018). Twitch and the work of play. American Journal of Play, 11(1), 65-84.
Wulf, T., Schneider, F. M., & Beckert, S. (2018;2020). Watching players: An exploration of media enjoyment on twitch. Games and Culture, 15(3), 155541201878816-346. doi:10.1177/1555412018788161
Dr. Lupo. (2022, April 7). 🔴 live - last stream before weekend vacation. YouTube. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CY9bHakEmM&t
Thethetatman. (2022, April 8). Timthetatmans birthday stream - stream vod. YouTube. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5j6Hdp1DEY
DrDisRespect. (2022, April 8). 🔴live - dr disrespect - elden ring - super easy level 71 striker. YouTube. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuBDE2fyEL0&t=2045s