Shroud Leaving Twitch Should Not Concern Amazon
The Internet went wild today over the news of Shroud leaving Twitch. Shroud nearly broke Twitter today with the news that he is signing with Mixer. Despite big news from Atlus on Persona 5 Scramble, Mixer was the highest trending topic on Twitter for most of the day. In just five short hours, Shroud’s tweet received over 134,000 likes, 21,800 retweets, and 9,000 comments.
Digging Into the Numbers
The question that everyone is asking is how is this news going to impact Twitch? Ninja and Shroud drew thousands of viewers on a daily basis, and there is no question that Shroud and Ninja are two of the most popular Twitch personalities of all time. Both are known for their Fortnite skills, which continues to be one of the most popular online video games. Shroud consistently averages over 30,000 viewers, and Ninja averages over 44,000 viewers. But after looking at the numbers, the impact of Shroud leaving Twitch is minimal. Let us explain.
According to SullyGnome, twitch users have consumed nearly 11 billion hours of content over the last 365 days, and Shroud and Ninja are two of the most popular contributors to Twitch streaming hours. Shroud followers consumed over 81 million hours in the last 12 months, and Ninja followers consumed over 72 million hours. While these figures are impressive, they are minor in comparison to Twitch’s overall viewing hours. When combined, Shroud and Ninja account for less than 1.5% of viewed Twitch content, which is a drop in the bucket.
Conclusion
Will these departures hurt Amazon’s bottom line? Yes, but not in a significant way. Amazon earns Twitch revenue from ads and in-app purchases; however, the ad revenue represents the largest revenue stream. Previous followers of Shroud and Ninja will likely migrate to other popular streamers, such as Tfue or Summit. So long as the overall viewing hours remain steady, Amazon will continue to profit.
While the news of Shroud leaving Twitch appears to be concerning, it is by no means as disturbing as Google Stadia, Blizzard, or Activision. Check out our other news segments and let us know what you think in the comments below.