Beyond Live Gameplay: Exploring the Streaming World

Abstract

Streaming video games on Twitch has become a way of entertainment for the gaming community. It has facilitated new ways for the gamers to create relationships and a community. This thesis explores the diversification of its content depending on the type of streamer and therefore, how the produced content is perceived and interacted with by the audience. Streaming on Twitch has been understood as a social activity for gamers to share their gameplays. This research tries to explain the different ways such gameplays can be created and how the differences between them have made streaming video games on Twitch a broader entertainment media platform. As part of the findings, the research presents three categories of streamers: Competitive Streamers, Entertainer Streamers and Community Streamers. According to the streamers’ category there is a different strategy for them to display content on Twitch and show variations of engaging tools and mechanics to create content on the platform.