Twitch’s days are numbered. Streamers are leaving the popular streaming platform in the wake of endless controversies, joining the likes of Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, who switched over to Microsoft’s Mixer. Greener pastures, in other words.
But why Mixer? For starters, the Microsoft-owned streaming platform rarely lands itself in controversy. Gaming comes first on Mixer – a far cry from Twitch, which advertises itself as a gaming platform, but has since become home to sex predators, trolling political drama streams, and endless drama over inconsistent moderation. The company’s latest scandal happened when one of its biggest stars, Natalia Mogollon, better known as Alinity, threw her cat overhead in what could only be described as a “heated gaming moment.”
She’s now the subject of an SPCA investigation in Canada, where she lives, and the platform’s numerous viewers – including other streamers – are calling for Twitch to exercise some consistency in how it handles controversy. Other streamers have been banned for much less – a popular Swedish streamer, Anomaly, was recently banned for accidentally equipping a Hitler-themed skin for all of a second live on stream. It resulted in a 30-day suspension and has yet to get a reprieve as Twitch support ceased all contact with him. Furthermore, Anomaly says that he isn’t even allowed to appear on any of his friends’ streams as it counts as “ban evasion.”
The exodus to Mixer has prompted some die-hard Twitch supporters, including some games journalists like IGN’s Joseph Knoop to throw their hands up in anger and complain about the platform’s “sexism” and “misogyny,” which come in the form of strict clothing guidelines. Designed to be clear and concise, the rules prohibit women from donning skimpy outfits on streams intended for family audiences and teenagers. If you’ve no problem with a bit of sexuality (and why would you? Do you realize where you are right now?) there’s always 18+ streams. Mixer still prohibits nudity, and faux-nudity like bodypainting in the nude – it is a gaming-focused website, after all.
The strict rules are, in fact, encouraging to women and girls who just want to stream games with their viewers and fans instead of being treated like softcore cam models. In response to a viral Twitter thread that first sparked the controversy, women have chimed in to express their support for the policies.
If that’s the only controversy Mixer has to deal with, it’s already a hundred percent better than Twitch.
Since joining Mixer, Ninja has managed to acquire over a million subscribers on the fledgeling platform – a record, to be sure. But more importantly, a million Ninja subscribers means more and more gamers are adopting the new platform, which gives dedicated Twitch streamers the incentive to move over without fear of losing too much of their audience. And he won’t be the last – Hearthstone pro, Thijs Molendjik announced this week that he too will be joining Ninja on Mixer in the near future.
It's only a matter of time before others – tired of Twitch – sign up.