Twitch, the famed livestreaming website dedicated to video games, is going through multiple sweeping changes that’s annoying fans, and affecting how we use the site. By that, I mean things have already changed.
Let’s get to the big one first; you know the annoying Content ID check Youtube does using the audio in these video files? Twitch is doing that now, with very specific limitations. Of course, this does not apply to livestreams, only archived videos. Secondly, Twitch is not taking the videos down. What they are doing is every instance they find a match, 30 minutes of said video is immediately silenced. This affects not only the song, but all the audio on the video for that duration. Twitch’s Content ID system is already at work, and may be working too well, considering it’s contentID’d one of Twitch’s own videos.
Secondly, Twitch is changing how they handle archives, which is to say no videos will be stored indefinitely anymore. Archived broadcasts stay on the site for 14 days, and partners and turbo subscribers get a maximum of 60 days.
On the upside, Twitch’s system is getting upgrades to allow playback on mobile, allow users to make highlight reels, add a security system to said broadcasts, make YouTube exporting easier, and generally future proof it.
Rather than save full streams, which they claim consists of petabytes of data people don’t go back to to watch, Twitch will now allow indefinite storage of highlight reels, that can be as much as two hours long.
This all comes as the company behind Twitch has decided to actually close the parent Justin.tv service in favor of focusing 100 % on Twitch, as well as the rumor that Google may have already bought the company.
Of course, depending on where you sit, this may affect you a big deal, or not at all. Twitch is not involved directly in gaming, however, gaming livestreams are a growing phenomenon, and for some enterprising streamers, a cottage industry.
It is fairly easy to predict a lot of fans will be angry today, and some streamers unable to adjust moving to other services. However, some streamers will also adjust, and even find ways to persist. It remains to be seen if Twitch will be hurt by the fallout of all these sweeping changes happening all at once or not.
