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So did Youtube become the preferred platform for game event streaming?

Busaiku

Busaiku

Teyvat Traveler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,399
I was catching the Treehouse Live on Twitch (it drains less battery Youtube on my phones), and I noticed that the view count was pretty low, around 21k.
Now it normally does get lower after the 1st day, but I thought this was a pretty disappointing drop.
But then I see on Youtube that it's nearing 60k still, which is what Twitch has garnered in years past.
I also remember the Nintendo Direct got to almost 400k on Youtube ( I watched it there), which is far higher than any Direct has done on Twitch, as far as I'm aware.

I'm not sure if this is just specific to Nintendo content, or across the board.

So assuming the latter (or even the former, but aimed specifically at Nintendo), when and why did Youtube seemingly become the streaming platform of choice?
I can't remember the numbers from last year, but a few years ago, the situation was the inverse (specifically for Treehouse Live), with Twitch at like 40k - 50k, and Youtube maybe like 15k - 20k. So it seems overall viewership is up as well (at least for Nintendo), largely due to Youtube.
 
ohlawd

ohlawd

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,307
Phantagrande
that's a shame

YT is always behind Twitch for basically everything. I always tell people to watch Treehouse on Twitch instead
 
Meg Cherry

Meg Cherry

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,255
Seattle, WA
I think YouTube just has better app integration for a lot of people to watch on their TVs or consoles. So as more people watch these events on an actual big screen, they're more likely to have a YouTube app installed than a Twitch app.
 
The Crystal Exarch

The Crystal Exarch

Member
Dec 3, 2017
1,156
São Paulo, Brazil
If I can choose between Twitch and YouTube, I'll always choose YouTube. It's much easier to use and a seamless experience to me, and without the stupid, toxic chat from Twitch, which I feel is much more in your face as it's right there when you access the stream, while I never check comments on YT while seeing E3 and gaming events.

(Edited for clarity and to point out it's my experience and personal feel of the platform).
 
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Kor of Memory

Kor of Memory

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
1,668
I had a ton of problems streaming twitch to my phone last year. That may have to do with the fact that I was streaming to my phone and not to my app.

Basically, if I'm at work, I'm streaming to my phone, and I'm using Youtube because it's more reliable.
If I'm at home half paying attention, I've got the PS4 going on the TV and I'm using the Youtube app, because it's just easier.
If I'm at home and at my actual PC, then I'll use twitch, because it seems the connection is more stable that way.
 
Aranjah

Aranjah

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,185
It did for me because these streams always happen when I'm at work. Twitch is blocked at work, YouTube isn't. And Microsoft likes to give me free stuff when I watch on Mixer (also not blocked at work) so I tend to watch their stuff there.

More generally, though, I've started to associate Twitch with the types of people who tend to stream on Twitch, which gives the whole site a negative connotation for me, so I tend to stay away.
 
Dec

Dec

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,516
it's likely because youtube works well on many more devices
 
jroc74

jroc74

Member
Oct 27, 2017
28,992
EisKonig said:
If I can choose between Twitch and YouTube, I'll always choose YouTube. It's much easier to use and a seamless experience to me, and without the stupid, toxic chat from Twitch.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yup.

Not saying Mixer was also toxic, not sure because full screen for my phone wasn't working right. I gave up and went to YT.
 
Kraq

Kraq

Member
Oct 25, 2017
807
Speaking for myself, I used to watch on Twitch and now watch on YouTube for everything whenever there's a choice. Twitch usually lags or drops frames whenever I've watched a live event and I've never had a problem with YouTube.
 
delete12345

delete12345

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 17, 2017
19,656
Boston, MA
I chose Youtube because of the rewind feature. I had to use Youtube because I am expecting a call to pick up during the Nintendo E3 Direct.
 
Jessie

Jessie

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,921
When people have these conversations they never talk about how Twitch has a crazy racism problem.

Youtube has problems too, but at least it's tied to your Google account so people are more likely to behave. And it doesn't have those icons of black people that people spam whenever a person of color takes the stage.
 

Deleted member 36578

Dec 21, 2017
26,561
The YouTube app works head and shoulders better than the twitch app on my phone. For that I will always choose to watch on YouTube.
 
ghibli99

ghibli99

Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,689
YT is where I go. I mean, I go there for a lot of video content anyway, including digital rentals, so it's just one of those things that happens subconsciously, and it's integrated nicely and consistently across all of my devices (desktop, mobile, TVs).
 
JustinBB7

JustinBB7

Member
Nov 16, 2017
2,338
I checked for PC gaming conference and twitch had a lot more than youtube.

Facebook had 700 people during that one lol.
 
Evolution of Metal

Evolution of Metal

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,960
Twitch - worst bandwidth, lowest quality.

Youtube - error'ing or downgrading quality, but it has be because of Firefox/Add-ons, watched it on the phone without any problems. Timeline is a major benefit, any broadcast is way better if I can rewind a little. I can even lag behind and then 1.25x until it catches to live.

Mixer - best quality and no interruptions.
 
Killthee

Killthee

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,168
ohlawd said:
that's a shame

YT is always behind Twitch for basically everything. I always tell people to watch Treehouse on Twitch instead
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yeah every time I tried YouTube the last few days the streams were on 15 - 20 second delay compared to twitch. Kept jumping back to twitch cause of it.
 
Zen Hero

Zen Hero

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,628
I definitely prefer YouTube. The pause, rewind, then 2x speed to catch up feature is too good. So I watch on YouTube if there is an option.

That said, I don't care too much. If something is only available on Twitch then I have no problems watching on Twitch.
 
vypek

vypek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,532
The only issue I have with YouTube is that it seems to be behind Twitch by a few seconds or worse. And it doesn't remember that I want the chat closed.
 
Akai

Akai

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,045
I'm always watching on Twitch, if possible, because Mixer has like a 40 second delay over Twitch in Germany and YouTube Streams are garbage, because they keep crashing. Sucks that Twitch got rid of community chat-rooms that you can use on any channel. Really stupid choice.
 
Devil

Devil

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,654
I feel old for saying this (I'm not even 30 yet), but I never got used to Twitch and will always use Youtube if available. My LG C8 also has an amazing performing, snappy Youtube App which I can use with my TV remote while using the laptop as a second screen for chatting (Whatsapp Web etc) and hyping. That's so much better than cramming two browser windows next to each other to have the stream and chat on at the same time.

Everytime I open twitch.tv I don't know what I'm looking at, what to look for and why I'm even there. I never know when shit is on there that might interest me and usually only go there if somebody links a stream to me like for E3.

I'd probably need a Twitch 101 for dummies.
 
WarpSpeedMolasses

WarpSpeedMolasses

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,396
For me yes, solely cause it let me rewind/start conferences from the beginning while they were still streaming halfway through.

No other platform let me do it.
 
PJsprojects

PJsprojects

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,065
England
Yeah YouTube is my go to because Mixer is always dropping quality for me and although Twitch is good quality I just prefer YouTube.
 
MentalZer0

MentalZer0

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,361
I think Twitch is better for streaming, and the chat is way better. But Youtube is a monster in infrastructure. If I'm not mistaken, it is the only video/stream platform that supports up to 128GB per file, which is f insane
 
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HockeyBird

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,584
YouTube app is better on phone. You can also rewind streams and the whole thing is uploaded within minutes.
 
Black_Stride

Black_Stride

Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
7,378
I always thought Twitch and Mixer were the Game stream platform of choice.
Esp for official streams.

Im pretty sure most game streams dont even both acknowledging Youtube chat.
Where as Twitch and Mixer questions and comments get responses.
 
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