I’m sad to announce that Microsoft owned Mixer has officially announced that it will be closing its doors, and if I’m being honest, I saw this coming for a while now. Season 2 of the platform introduced a wide variety of platform-specific features that spurred innovation in the streaming world, and while it certainly put a fire under Twitch to incorporate some of these features, such as “low latency” mode, ultimately, it wasn’t enough to sustain itself long-term. After that wave of updates, the platform just stagnated. Mixer is shutting down, effective July 22, 2020, where it will then serve as a domain redirect to fb.gg. We presume that Facebook actually bought them out, but that is mere speculation based on how the announcement was handled.
As to some insight as to why Mixer is shutting down, there are a number of factors, but the biggest one comes from the official statement,
“It became clear that the time needed to grow our own livestreaming community to scale was out of measure with the vision and experiences that Microsoft and Xbox want to deliver for gamers now…”
Mixer’s Official Announcement on Closure
In other words, it would have taken too much time, effort, and money to make Mixer a platform capable of competing with bigger platforms like Twitch, Facebook Gaming, and YouTube Gaming.
And they are 100% correct. They were fighting a losing battle, and their buyout of big-name streamers from Twitch was a last-ditch effort to drive interest over to the platform. They dragged their feet in the early game, and have paid the ultimate price.
Table of Contents
What does this mean for Mixer Partners who are now displaced?
If you’re a “Partner” for Mixer, your status will be migrated over to Facebook, with all agreements being honored and matched “As closely as possible,” Aka, some things are still going away. As to what those things are, it’s still a little bit too early to tell. If you’re a displaced Mixer partner, and you lost something, leave a comment below with your experience.
It should also mean a juicy last payment for all remaining Ember/spark redemption, as you’ll be receiving double the normal rate for these.
But, should you smile and accept the Facebook platform just because Mixer is shutting down as they recommend?
I am a strong opponent to the Facebook platform, as, personally, I don’t like some things Facebook has done. So I’m more inclined to recommend you transitioning over to literally anywhere else. The whole thing with Cambridge Analytica put a sour taste in my mouth for the platform, and I effectively have boycotted it ever since. Plus, the platform has been the source of more family drama in my life than I care to admit.
And that’s not including the current shenanigans plaguing the platform. But again, this is entirely my opinion on the platform. It is important to consider every choice available to you and weigh the pros and cons of the platform.
Of course, if you are like me, you probably can’t stand to be associated with Facebook. I digress.
Regardless of my opinion, now is the time to strongly encourage your community who support you to join your discord server, to invite them to continue being a part of your community. Bring them with you to your new home, and try your best to exert a sense of solidarity. People follow you because you are you, not because you stream on Mixer.
So What are your options?
Alternative streaming platforms – Twitch
The most obvious alternative to consider is Twitch. There are a number of reasons as to why this may be compelling. First, the platform, like Mixer, is streaming specific. This means any new features that are released on the platform is tailored to improve the live streaming experience. The second is that it has a huge following already for this particular viewer interest that is in a state of growth.
With that being said, I understand most of you actually abandoned Twitch in favor of Mixer for it’s subjectively kinder community. But remember, your community is what you make it. Don’t like How someone acts? Time em out. They keep it up? Ban them. You are in control of your own channel.
How Twitch handles Monetization
Monetization on this platform has the lowest barrier to entry, which we’ve covered in our post about the affiliate requirements.
A quick rundown would be something like this:
- Bits – Secure Non-refundable Donation points that are redeemed for real money in their payment to you.
- Subs – A monthly subscription, akin to Netflix or Disney+. They subscribe to your content to support your content creation.
- Extensions that promote the use of bits for services – Redeem bits to set a song, etc. Incentives your audience to donate bits to you.
There are more options to monetize your content further, but it is valid if you aren’t sure.
The Second Alternative – YouTube Gaming
YouTube is easily one of the biggest platforms on the planet, second only to Google really. There almost isn’t a person left who has not heard of it. With that being said, they are also known to throw their creators under the bus with an algorithm that hands out strikes and claims to videos, impacting their income, or outright shutting them down. This, for example, has recently led UFD Tech to get a Strike for a video…They manually reviewed and said it was Okay, then backtracked on the decision, and slapped a strike on it in addition.
With that quirkiness of approving then rescinding decisions, It can be seen as a potentially risky environment for edgier content that skirts the line of acceptable vs unacceptable.
As for the monetization options, as far as we are aware, that is purely in the form of tips and superchats on the platform. If you want a subscription income, you’ll have to incorporate something like Patreon.
It is also fairly difficult to get to the point to where these options become available, requiring 1,000 subscribers (followers, essentially) to enable.
One Feature we’d like to see adopted by the other platforms
One of my favorite features of any streaming platform is the famed “Mixplay” feature, which integrated intractable buttons that could be programmed to do a variety of different things. We would like to see this feature adopted by Twitch, YouTube, or whatever platform rises to fill the void.
Closing words
While Mixer may be shutting down for good, the community will likely stand forever. I strongly recommend joining “Mix It Forward” to keep in contact with many former mixer streamers. They are a friendly bunch and one that I have partnered with. I can’t recommend them enough, really. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors, and I hope to see you in the discord!