Abstract
The twitch gaming event is a multifaceted and multilayered participatory act, linking economic interests of platform owners, game industry and gamers with modes of playing games – a development that engenders gaming – especially twitch gaming – as a new form of ‘work’. In this paper, we will make an effort to develop a frame by which the interconnections between actors like media specific aspects of live-streaming, the aesthetic of performing – such as ‘self-portrayal’ and maintaining a ‘screen persona’ by the streamers –,mediatechnical equipment as well as social interactions with the audience and, last but not least, economic interests become entangled to produce what we call a ‘live-streamed gaming event (Giddings 2008)’ or, to put it simple, twitch.
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Notes
- 1.
Battle Royal Games are a subgenre of Open World Games, as Götz (2018) explains: „Here, dozens of opponents compete in an open world terrain, with the goal of the game being the ‚Last Man Standing’. Only the player or the team wins that survives all in-game conflicts until the end of the gaming session“ (2018, pp. 262-263).
- 2.
The term ‚streaming‘ refers to the cultural phenomenon of social live broadcasting on twitch and not only to the technological solutions of streaming video and sound data over the internet. The content creators are named streamers, who primarily focus on gaming and other creative projects (cf. Macey 2019).
- 3.
It should be added here that Egliston, referring to ‘broadcasting’, uses a somewhat problematic term, as this term can be considered to be located in a classical ‘broadcast’ situation. However, that is not the case – from the perspective of ANT, Egliston decisively talks about the ‘new media’-events of live streaming on YouTube and twitch.
- 4.
Consider Yohan’s (2017) description: „DrDisRespect is also known for his '80s-styled masculinity. He's extremely cocky and compliments himself on a daily basis, all in an over-exaggerated comedic fashion. (He once even called himself a sex God.) One would assume that the man has never shed a tear in his life, not even as a baby” (np).
- 5.
However, the ‘WASD’-buttons on the keyboard are the most common buttons for moving an avatar. This button mapping can be interchanged with any of the buttons available on a standard PC keyboard.
- 6.
Additionally, a ‘decent’ gaming room is often stylized with diffuse RGB backlights as well as stacked with different artifacts of gaming history and popular culture. The whole setting is illuminated in a cold-blue and black aesthetic with a very organized and sterile impression. Although each room features reoccurring elements that signalize ‘PCMR’, individuality by adding personal details seems to be key here. Some PCMR gaming rooms look more like a workspace for a ‘high end’ product advertisement or a futurism-art-museum exhibition than an actual living room.
- 7.
Driven by his twitch performance, MontanaBlack also releases videos on YouTube talking about contemporary issues and gossip on gaming, YouTube culture and business. Those videos are released under the headline “real talk”, where he claims to discuss certain issues honestly and openly – including his sponsorships, income and purchases. According to the economic constitution of YouTube, a certain strategy concerning his headlines and thumbnails – namely gaining so-called ‘clickbait’ – is undeniable. Interestingly, this seems to be somewhat opposing his image of the authentic, honest and average ‘guy next door’.
- 8.
Interestingly, as it comes to Eris’s mode of representation, it is important to note that he also created a certain aesthetic to stylize his twitch streams according to the conventions of a home console dispositive and other subcultural assemblages. In Eris’s case, there is an affinity to German Hip-Hop culture recognizable, which he visibly relates to his streaming stage. For example, there are plenty of baseball caps arranged in a RGB-lightened rack in the background. Eris himself always wears one of his caps while streaming or performing in any other medial arrangement linked to his appearances. By doing so, he is not just a person of interest for gamers, but also for people associated with and interested in Hip-Hop culture. He simultaneously functions as a role model for teenagers, promoting the success-narrative his persona is linked to.
- 9.
MontanaBlack Realtalk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=WBDI5kEZ9co&feature=emb_logo. Accessed 19. April 2020.
- 10.
However, not all streamers are gamers, some of them, like twitch performer John “JohnnyBoi_i” Macdonald, attract between 800 to over 2,000 viewers by inviting pro-players to compete on his channel while he provides analytical commentary.
- 11.
You can have detailed information about the workload of DrDisrespect (https://www.twitchmetrics.net/c/17337557-drdisrespect) as well as of MontanaBlack (https://www.twitchmetrics.net/c/45044816-montanablack88). Accessed 20. April 2020.
- 12.
In 2017 all twitch users together watched an average monthly time of 29.58 billion minutes, which is 21.5% more than in 2016; in 2018 twitch users watched 42 billion minutes, 42.99% more than in the year before.
- 13.
https://twitter.com/fishstix/status/979769765202833409. Accessed 20. April 2020.
- 14.
‘Gaming force’ is also the name of different national and international gaming communities or cooperations, i.e. https://gamingforce.org/forums. Accessed: 19. June 2019.
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Ochsner, B., Spöhrer, M., Waldrich, H. (2020). Twitching Laborious Play or: How Game-Streaming Changes Modes of Playing. In: Spöhrer, M., Waldrich, H. (eds) Einspielungen. Neue Perspektiven der Medienästhetik. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-30721-9_9
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