Twitch is a well-known live streaming platform. People watch games, listen to music, chat “just for fun,” cook, travel, and study – all in real time. You see a stream and immediately write in a chat, the streamer responds, and you get live communication that keeps people coming back every day.

The point of the platform is simple: turn it on and you’re there. No editing, no delays, with natural emotions and mistakes that make the broadcast interesting. In this article, we’ll tell you what Twitch is and how it came to be, explain how the platform works, and how to launch your own channel.

Brief history

The project Justin.tv started in 2007: founder Justin Kahn broadcasts his life 24/7, and the team opens the platform to everyone. Over time, the gaming section explodes in popularity, and in 2011, a separate website, Twitch.tv, is born. In August 2014, Amazon buys Twitch for about $970 million, and Justin.tv is closed to focus on the new brand. After the deal, integrations with Amazon’s ecosystem appeared, including Twitch Prime, which was renamed Prime Gaming in 2020.

Streaming ecosystem

Twitch has two main career paths for authors: Affiliate and Partner. Earnings come from several sources: monthly subscriptions, Bits (tips in the form of emotes), advertising, and sponsorship integrations. For viewers with Amazon Prime, one free monthly prime subscription to the selected channel is available (via Prime Gaming). The general logic of monetization is well described in the profile guides and has not changed: the streamer forms a community, and Twitch shares the revenue from subscriptions/advertising.

In 2023, the platform launched Partner Plus: streamers receive a 70/30 split of revenue from subbed content if they meet the criteria; in 2024, the program was expanded (under the Plus Program brand) and the 70/30 limit was lifted. This was done to retain mature authors and strengthen the channel’s economy.

Content

Along with esports and new release streams, the Just Chatting category has flourished, as well as music networks, IRL travel, art, and educational formats. The platform is constantly looking for ways to take moments beyond the airwaves: clips, highlights, short vertical cuts. In 2023-2024, Twitch opened simulcasting – authors were allowed to stream anywhere at the same time – and added Stories and Featured Clips.

By the way, in 2022, Twitch banned streams from illegal slots/roulette sites, one of the most high-profile steps in its moderation policy in recent years. Violations lead to sanctions, so the authors switched to authorized platforms or changed the content.

How to start your own channel

Technology
. A laptop + web + lavalier microphone will suffice for a start. If your budget is limited, invest in sound rather than a camera: people listen more than they watch.

First settings. OBS/Streamlabs, scenes (intro, main, break), alerts for subs/chairs/raids.

Schedule and format. It’s better to have three stable broadcasts a week than to do it as you go along. One focus (game/topic) + 15-20 minutes of Just Chatting.

Clips and simulcasting. Cut up instant highlights and share them on social media; stream them on several platforms at the same time, as this helps you grow.

P.S A small digression/explanation

OBS and Streamlabs

These are special programs that allow you to capture video from your desktop, games, webcam, and microphone, combine it all, and stream it to platforms like Twitch or YouTube. If you are a beginner, you can choose Streamlabs for now. It is considered to be easier to get started quickly because it has many features that need to be configured separately in OBS.

Scenes.

Essentially a ready-made layout or template for your broadcast that you can quickly switch. The scene contains all the sources: game, webcam, chat, etc., arranged in a certain order.

The most common types of scenes:

Intro – a scene that is shown before the start of the stream. It usually contains the caption “We’ll be starting soon,” music, a timer, and possibly links to social media.

Main – for most of the stream. It includes the game/theme of the broadcast, your webcam, frames, chat, and important widgets.

A break is a scene where you need to step away for a while (for example, to get a drink of water). It usually has a “Be right back” sign and background music.

Outro – to end the broadcast, often with thanks and a call to subscribe.

Alerts

Alerts are visual and audible notifications that instantly appear on the streamer’s screen when a certain event occurs. They make the broadcast more interactive and help you thank your viewers.

Subs – notifications when someone subscribes to your channel (pays a monthly subscription fee).

Chirps are also notifications, but when someone sends Bits (a virtual currency on Twitch) to support a streamer.

And the last one is raids – when another streamer redirects their viewers to your channel after they finish their own broadcast. This is a way to support the community.

In fact, Twitch is like your own interactive television network, where you are both the star and the director. All you need to get started is programs like OBS/Streamlabs and a desire to communicate with the world.

Some interesting facts about Twitch

• In August 2014, as we mentioned above, Twitch was bought by Amazon, which was literally one of the most high-profile purchases in video streaming that year.
• The first TwitchCon took place on September 25-26, 2015, in San Francisco, and later a European version appeared.
• In 2014, the Twitch Plays Pokemon channel allowed thousands of people to simultaneously control the game via chat – Pokemon Red was completed in 16 days non-stop.
• In the fall of 2023, Twitch lifted the restrictions – streamers can simultaneously broadcast on other platforms (but with certain rules).
• After the original PogChamp emoji was removed in 2021, Twitch made a temporary replacement – a new PogChamp emoji with a different face appeared every day. By the way, it was one of the most famous and iconic emoticons in the history of the platform used in chat.
• In 2017, Twitch opened a platform of extensions: polls, leaderboards, interactive overlays, integrations with games – everything right in the player.