14 DAY TRIAL // The fact that Amazon bought Twitch for a total amount close to 1 billion dollars (760 million Euro) was one of the biggest pieces of tech news for the month of August and it was fun to watch the divide in coverage for the deal.
The gaming world was excited by the event and celebrated a new sign that the hobby was becoming mainstream and that it was becoming even more successful from a financial point of view.
The mainstream press wondered who would be interested in a site which allows fans to simply stare at a screen as others are playing their favorite titles, without actually engaging themselves.
I am a gamer and I have been playing on various platforms and using various genres since I was about six years old, so I have a clear dedication to this hobby and the pleasures that it can offer, but as a rather busy modern man, I have also never spent more than one minute actively watching a gaming stream on Twitch.
Can the service become more than a tool for superfans and will Amazon bring anything new to it? I suspect that the entire concept will remain a niche affair, even if it is heavily promoted and it gains backing from big companies.
Streaming versus Playing
There are video games that are not watchable and I admit I tend to play them most, ranging from Football Manager to Crusader Kings, but I also appreciate the time I spend with FIFA 15 or with Wargame Red Dragon in multiplayer, an experience that is well tailored to what Twitch stands for.
In my mind, I never questioned whether I should watch a stream rather than actually play, even if I know that looking at other players could give me a new perspective on the tactics used and might actually improve my own performances in the long term.
Twitch is great for gaining knowledge, but I would rather have fun on my own.
Watching streams also requires time and it’s very hard to justify, especially for modern gamers who have a life outside of their hobbies, why precious minutes should be spent looking at DOTA 2 or Starcraft or any other title rather than directly engaging with it.
On the other hand, I can’t even justify streaming out my own matches because I am sure that there are more skilled players out there for all my favorite experiences, and I tend to focus on gameplay and would be uncomfortable offering any commentary.
The passive shift of modern gaming
I suspect that the mainstream move of Twitch and its acquisition by Amazon represent a sign that the passive shift of modern gaming is gaining momentum.
There was a moment in the XX century when people moved from actually engaging with sports to watching sports, which had its positive and negative consequences.
The start of the XXI century might be the appropriate moment to look back and pinpoint when video games moved from active play to passive watching, with gamers more interested in the information and the action surrounding their favorite competitive titles rather than in actually engaging with them.