Gamers, analysts and pretty much anyone who you ask will have an opinion about the situation surrounding Twitch and Mixer. If they know what these are, odds are that the people being asked will prefer one platform and have reasons for their choices. Mixer and Twitch have been competing with each other for months now as the proxy battle between tech giants Amazon and Microsoft. Microsoft renamed their streaming service Beam to Mixer in 2017, adding features to more directly compete in the market.
Though Twitch remains the undisputed king of video game and so-called “IRL” streaming, dominating viewer numbers of Mixer. The latter of the two has attempted to poach high-profile streamers like Shround and Ninja, signing expensive exclusivity contracts with them and others. Twitch has since fired back, securing contracts with some of the most popular names on their platform.
And even though many have criticized the extremely untenable nature of buying an audience, saying that Microsoft has to do things differently from Twitch to gain organic growth, they’re continuing their efforts. Sure, Twitch has made plenty of mistakes too. The company allegedly allowed open drinks to be served at a company party, allowing at least one person to be drugged. And then there’s consistent problems with inconsistent enforcement of bans and suspensions which are a source for many complaints.
Mixer has done one thing right though. Harrison “HarrisonJr” Patrick Stewart, a popular streamer on their platform, has since been removed from the partner program, Why? Mixer made the call after the streamer tweeted this nonsense last week before quickly deleting it:
Stewart then issued a public apology, saying he ” meant it as a joke,” and that he “made it without thinking how it would read.” Yes, really. In other words, this is what happens when you spend too much time online and have forgotten where some boundaries are. Microsoft and Mixer reacted quickly, removing the streamer from their platform’s partner program. This has apparently led to a further purge as well.
Microsoft explained further in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter saying, “We take immediate action when we determine content violates our terms of service. We encourage our users to report potential violations, and we provide guidance on how to do that. We’ve reviewed the content in question and as a result made the decision to end our partnership.”
Stewart’s account is now no longer verified, and has since been made devoid of content as all past streams have seemingly been removed. Stewart had around 80,000 followers at this time on his various accounts. It’s easy to see, and very justifiable, why this happened. Take it as a lesson, think before you speak.
