Microsoft
Microsoft had high hopes for Mixer, which it had hoped would be competitive with major players Twitch, owned by Amazon
"We started pretty far behind, in terms of where Mixer's monthly active viewers were compared to some of the big players out there," Phil Spencer, Head of Gaming at Microsoft, said in an interview with The Verge.
It wasn't surprising then that Microsoft announced on Monday that it was shutting down Mixer on July 22 and migrating both its content and users to Facebook Gaming. In addition to the transition, Microsoft has said that it will provide access to Project xCloud to gamers through Facebook Gaming. Project xCloud is a gaming streaming service like Google's Stadia, in that the service allows players to stream games to any device without having to rely on a console or PC.
The partnership seems like it will bode well for Microsoft, as Facebook Gaming already has a considerable base of some 700 million users. In contrast, the last reported user total for Mixer was about 30 million. Facebook Gaming's mobile app launch in April was a big leap for the company, which hoped to tap into mobile gaming, a subset of gaming not largely capitalized upon by Twitch or YouTube. Facebook's app is also designed to be easy to use, with the hopes of encouraging use by even the most casual gamer.
Integrating Facebook Gaming with xCloud could give the partnership an edge over their competitors; the ability to access popular gaming titles regardless of hardware, and the casual approachability of Facebook Gaming's design could draw in more users.
Google had planned a similar function for Stadia well before Microsoft's partnership with Facebook. However, Stadia's performance has been particularly underwhelming, as many consumers were disappointed with the product after Google made too many promises it couldn't entirely keep. Stadia didn't do much to regain its reputation after launch either, with several poorly executed decisions PR mishaps, such as the platform's social media team accidentally causing an almost comedic backlash among gamers with a seeming admission that the platform lacked titles.
If xCloud has a better launch and gains a solid enough reputation, it's entirely possible that Microsoft could take the lead in the nascent game streaming market. The success of xCloud would also significantly boost Facebook Gaming through streaming integration, which could, in and of itself, revolutionize streaming entirely if executed correctly.
- https://venturebeat.com/2020/06/22/microsoft-will-shut-mixer-on-july-22-and-move-streamers-and-audience-to-facebook-gaming/
- https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/22/21299032/microsoft-mixer-closing-facebook-gaming-partnership-xcloud-features#:~:text=Microsoft%20is%20closing%20its%20Mixer
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- https://www.pws.io/facebook-launches-gaming-livestreaming-app
- https://9to5google.com/2020/06/22/microsoft-shutting-down-mixer-facebook-gaming-xcloud/