A few years ago, Microsoft set itself up as a potential competitor to Twitch. After signing some big-name streamers and investing a lot of time and energy into its game-streaming service, Mixer has finally announced that it's throwing in the towel — and Facebook Gaming will take its place. The Mixer Facebook Gaming transition, however, is going to require a bit of involvement from both streamers and viewers alike.
"Ultimately, the success of Partners and streamers on Mixer is dependent on our ability to scale the platform for them as quickly and broadly as possible," read a blog post on the Mixer website. "It became clear that the time needed to grow our own live streaming community to scale was out of measure with the vision and experiences that Microsoft and Xbox want to deliver for gamers now, so we’ve decided to close the operations side of Mixer and help the community transition to a new platform."
One might think that this "new platform" is a rebranding or some kind of next-gen effort for Microsoft to build on its current capabilities, but that's not the case here. Rather, the Mixer team will be working on transitioning things to Facebook Gaming — and that might mean some big changes for current Creators.
How will the Mixer Facebook Gaming Deal Affect Creators?
Microsoft is aiming for a smooth transition to Facebook gaming. That said, there is a lot of underlying infrastructure with Microsoft's streaming service, and that means that both streamers and viewers are going to have some decisions to make in the near future.
Here are the highlights from the blog post on how the Mixer Facebook Gaming transition will play out:
- Mixer Partners will be granted partner status with Facebook Gaming, and the platform will honor and match all existing Partner agreements as closely as possible. Mixer Partners will receive an update from Mixer today on how to kickoff the sign-up process.
- Streamers participating in Mixer’s open monetization program will be granted eligibility for the Facebook Gaming Level Up Program, where you can continue to grow and monetize your streams. Facebook Gaming will also fast-track onboarding for eligible streamers.
- Microsoft encourages all Mixer viewers to spend their remaining Embers and Sparks to help support your favorite Mixer Partners and streamers. Mixer Partners will receive double-payment for all of their earnings in the month of June – so your support of Embers, Sparks and channel subscriptions for Mixer Partners will go even further during the rest of this month.
- Viewers with outstanding Ember balances, channel subscriptions or Mixer Pro subscriptions will receive Xbox Gift Card credit as a thank you for your engagement on the platform. Details on what you can expect can be found at this FAQ.
- The Mixer service will continue to run through July 22, 2020. After that, Mixer.com will redirect to fb.gg, Facebook’s desktop home for gaming video, Mixer broadcasting on Xbox One will be temporarily disabled and the Mixer apps will notify or redirect viewers to continue watching their favorite streamers at Facebook Gaming.
- For more details on what this means for you, check out this FAQ.
One of the major issues to consider is that of exclusive contracts. Microsoft spent a ton of money hiring Ninja and Shroud to exclusively stream on their platform. It looks like they won't be required to move over to Facebook, and one report already says that these big names have already cashed in a heck of a payday.
"Sources familiar with the deal have informed me that while Facebook did try and negotiate to keep their big partners both Shroud and Ninja opted out," stated noted esports journalist Richard Lewis on Twitter. "They have received their full payments and as of midnight yesterday were free to engage in talks with other platforms. Game on."
That's not to say everyone has passed up on the deal — at least one streamer has said that they're going to be making the move to Facebook Gaming:
See Ya'll Wednesday June 24thhttps://t.co/wNAjB9AMoT pic.twitter.com/UuOWFjeKt5
— Gothalion (@Gothalion) June 22, 2020
As the above bullet points note, Mixer will continue to operate until July 22, 2020. After that, anyone trying to go to the site will be redirected to its new home at Facebook Gaming.
What do you think of the Mixer Facebook Gaming deal? Are you sad to see Microsoft's streaming service close down? Let us know in the comments below!
