Games Done Quick is no stranger to hosting video game speedrunning marathons for charity, and the COVID-19 pandemic is the perfect time for such an event. Games Done Quick has kicked off a weekend marathon called Corona Relief Done Quick, during which speedrunners from around the world will be showcasing their skills - remotely, of course - and raising money Direct Relief.
Valorant could very well be the biggest game of the moment, thanks in part to how exclusive its closed beta has been so far. Valorant is the latest game from League of Legends developer Riot Games, and though it isn't scheduled to launch until sometime this summer, Riot is currently holding a closed beta for the game. Getting into the closed beta, however, has thus far been a matter of luck.
Late last year, streaming platform Twitch announced a new upcoming feature called Watch Parties that enables groups of people to watch the same show together, though they're located in different places from each other. The feature was first tested with a small number of creators who could use Watch Parties to stream select Prime Video content with their communities.
The past few weeks have seen the Internet explode in the number of users hopping not just to stream videos but especially to collaborate and communicate with others. That's true not just for work but also for streaming games, tutorials, and other activities on platforms like Twitch. The rapid surge in the number of viewers also means that there will be more people to keep an eye on and, if necessary, keep them in line. It's not easy being a Twitch moderator but the platform's new Mod View will try to at least put some order in that chaos.
SoundCloud has teamed up with Twitch to help support creators who can no longer play their live shows in real-life destinations. With this new partnership, SoundCloud says that its Pro, Premier, and Repost by SoundCloud creators will have the option of performing their live works on Twitch live streams, enabling them to earn money with fast-tracked Affiliate status.
Last year, the streaming wars got into full swing when Mixer signed Tyler "Ninja" Blevins to an exclusivity deal, thereby poaching one of Twitch's top streamers. From there, we saw a series of signings that took some high profile streamers away from Twitch and put them exclusively on not only Mixer, but also YouTube and Facebook Gaming.
If you were expecting the streaming wars to cool down as we head into 2020, it looks like you were wrong. YouTube is kicking the new year off in a big way, announcing today that it has signed three more streamers to exclusive deals. From here on out, Lannon "LazarBeam" Eacott, Elliot "Muselk" Watkins, and Rachell "Valkyrae" Hofstetter will be streaming exclusively on YouTube, leaving Twitch in the dust.
Games Done Quick has wrapped up another speedrunning marathon, and unsurprisingly, it's broken more fundraising records. Awesome Games Done Quick 2020 - the flagship event for GDQ - ended yesterday with a grand total of $3,135,900.56 raised for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. On top of that, GDQ has announced that it's also raised more than $25 million for charity across all of its events.
Twitch is a free streaming video platform that has a 'premium experience' for people who are willing to pay. Called Twitch Prime, this premium offering is available to people who have Amazon Prime or Prime Video subscriptions, offering them access to exclusive in-game content, a free monthly channel subscription, exclusive emotes, a chat badge and, most importantly, access to free games.
Twitch has enjoyed a long tenure as king of the video game streaming hill, but lately, its competitors have been making power moves. Throughout the latter half of this year, Facebook, Mixer, and YouTube have all been signing various top Twitch streamers to exclusivity deals, pulling those personalities away from Twitch.
Death Stranding is out today, and if you're still not sure what to make of it now that the reviews have landed and the dust has settled a bit, you probably aren't alone. The latest from Hideo Kojima is definitely a weird one, but the seems to be working in the game's favor. That's because - at the time of this writing, at least - Death Stranding is the most-watched game on Twitch and it isn't even close.
Earlier this year, Microsoft made a big move in the streaming space, striking a deal with Tyler "Ninja" Blevins that would see him jumping ship from Twitch to stream exclusively on Mixer. As it turns out, Microsoft wasn't done with the power plays, as another big streamer - Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek - has announced that he'll be streaming exclusively on Mixer from here on out as well.