For many unable to attend E3 this year, Twitch was probably the best source of information. The video streaming site broadcasted hours on hours of gaming-related news including all five major press conferences. And the result was record-breaking numbers.
On the first day of E3 (Monday, June 9) — the day all of the major press conferences were held — Twitch broke a single day unique viewer record with 5.9 million viewers. Over the course of all four E3 days, Twitch had 12 million unique viewers.
“By helping our partners get the most value out of their E3 presence with our centralized platform and our partnership with the ESA, the numbers illustrated it was a resounding success,” said Matthew DiPietro, VP of Marketing, Twitch. “As a result, we were able to offer our global community a front row seat to all of the best content from the show.”
Though livestreaming gameplay is a hobby for many, Twitch's popularity — and evident by these latest numbers — could signal a change in the way people ingest news and information. Twitch is primarily imprinted in the gaming industry, but with numbers like these it'll surely be hard for other companies to resist establishing some sort of foothold within the massive community. And if that whole YouTube/Google acquisition of Twitch rumor turns out to be true, the possibilities could be endless.
Of course, as a writer about video games, I prefer the more antiquated method for delivering news. I guess I'm an old fossil. How did you consume the majority of your E3 news this year?
