After Microsoft's surprise announcement of Mixer shutting down, we were curious about how the Facebook Gaming community would react to the news. We sat down some experienced Facebook Gaming creators - Chii, Seraveem, Era of The Geeks, and MelRomeo for a quick conference call to get their impressions and thoughts on the unification.
Chii: It's quite a sudden thing to happen. I can't imagine being in their shoes and suddenly having the platform they have been working on for the past few months or years not being there anymore. I'm sure it must be devastating for them. In my point of view, when one door closes, another one opens. Here at Facebook Gaming, as a creator, I welcome them to call it their home as well.
MelRomeo: Mixer is a platform focused on streaming, while Facebook has the advantage of being a social network and streaming platform. A lot of new viewers will come to Facebook from Mixer, and while it will be a good opportunity for viewers to find new streamers to watch, it will also saturate the streaming space.
Seraveem: There will be more creators coming in, which means we will have more competitors! Mixer and Facebook Gaming have very different environments, so for the new creators and viewers, they'll have to get used to it. They might be in for a culture shock if they aren't about gaming.
Era of The Geeks: Since Facebook isn't only acquiring the creators, but more than that, there will be pros and cons to this merger. For a while, the market will be saturated with a lot of streamers on the platform, but we're going to have a lot more new viewers watching gaming content. We might also start seeing Facebook opening new streaming categories and we'll see a larger variety of content, like podcasts. Hopefully, we'll also get features from Mixer like low latency video!
Chii: New viewers will have to get used to Facebook Gaming creators - and it'll be up to them to decide who to watch. As for me, I won't be trying hard - if new people like my content, that's great, but it's going to be up to them to find out what they are looking for.
MelRomeo: The majority of Mixer viewers are not from APAC (Asia Pacific) so a lot of them will be audiences that I wouldn't capture in the first place. I believe a lot of them will move to platforms like Twitch instead of Facebook. Most stream viewers from the APAC region already would already be on Facebook Gaming.
Era of The Geeks: I would just continue to be myself, I won't be trying hard to capture these new viewers. People who watch streams on Mixer, will move to Facebook Gaming to follow their favourite streamers. They'll only look at other streamers when they get bored or tired of their current ones. However, if a viewer stumbles upon my content, that will be my time to show them what I'm like. If my content is in line with their tastes, they will stay.
Seraveem: Loyal viewers will follow their favourite streamers, regardless of what they do or where they go. But to all those who move to Facebook Gaming, I just hope you stick around!
Chii: Gotahlion is coming, that's interesting, considering he is good friends with Darkness429!
Era of The Geeks: This is wishful thinking that Ninja and Shroud would be coming to Facebook Gaming, unless Facebook really, really wants them!
Seraveem: Welcome, and make yourself comfortable. It will be different compared to Mixer. You have to start from scratch, but if you had a massive following, that shouldn't be an issue. All the best!
MelRomeo: Good luck, be yourself, and all the best! It's going to be different because of the transition to a new platform. With that being said, I do hope that Facebook will get some of Mixer's features to improve itself. Now that we're down to only two other competitors (Twitch and YouTube), I hope that Facebook Gaming can be much better in the future.
Chii: We've got an entirely different type of viewership compared to Mixer. If you're looking to grow your audience, you'll have to face the challenge of adapting to the type of viewers we have. Good luck and all the best, I hope you feel at home here, and have fun streaming!
Era of The Geeks: We welcome those who are coming from Mixer to Facebook, enjoy the stay, the friends, the viewers, the partners, the community and so on. If you're starting out but an active user of Facebook, don't worry about not having viewers. You can grow your audience, starting with your friends and family. Just enjoy yourself and have fun.
Thanks to Chii, MelRomeo, Era of The Geeks and Seraveem for taking the time to answer our questions. Check out their streams on their respective Facebook pages! Stay tuned to eGG Network for more Facebook Gaming content.
Looks like things are shaking up in the world of livestreaming - Microsoft announced in an unexpected blog post yesterday, the shutting down of its streaming platform, Mixer. Come 22nd July 2020, the platform will cease to exist. While technically sound, and some would even say superior to the competition, Mixer has failed to capture a significant portion of the population, so it wasn't too shocking to hear the news. What was more surprising was the fact that Microsoft threw in the towel this early. Regardless, Microsoft announced that Mixer will now be integrated with Facebook Gaming, so Mixer users won't be left homeless when it shuts down.
This transition to Facebook Gaming means that all Mixer Partners will be granted partner status with Facebook Gaming, streamers using Mixer's open monetization program will be granted eligibility for Facebook Gaming Level Up, and Mixer viewers with leftover Embers, channel subscriptions or Mixer Pro subscriptions will receive Xbox Gift Card credit as compensation. Will we see a sudden influx of users moving over to Facebook Gaming? Only time will tell.
With the news of Mixer's closure, it has also been reported that Ninja and Shroud (streamers that they poached from Twitch in the past) are now free agents and can go wherever they please. No word on where they'll be moving to yet - they could potentially return to Twitch or explore new options with YouTube or Facebook Gaming.
Mixer was always behind the big three when it came to viewership numbers. Getting big names on board with the platform didn't do much for its growth either, proving that livestream audiences are somewhat loyal to their platforms and don't switch easily. Could this mean that giants like Twitch are too big to compete against? What will YouTube or Facebook Gaming do in the future to obtain a bigger slice of the pie? Maybe it's time for streaming platforms to reassess their strategies for the future. Are alternative platforms viable at this point?
Rest In Peace Mixer, we hardly knew you.
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