Those who’ve been following the updates regarding Mixer over the last year are likely aware that Microsoft’s very own streaming platform has been engaged in quite a heated rivalry with gaming mainstay Twitch. Mixer pulled some of the Twitch’s most successful influencers/streamers,including the number #1Fortnitestreamer Ninja, and also Shroud along with a bunch of other streamers. However, this brain-drain is far from over, and the Microsoft-owned streaming platform is still looking for ways to seduce more popular streamers over to its territory.
Even with some of the top streamers live streaming on Mixer, it’s stilllosing to Twitch in terms of live stream viewers. Some partners have been expressing their discontent with the platform’s policies as of late. One of the biggest issues that has been plaguing the platform for a very long time is the 24/7 streams, where a streamer goes AFK with their stream set to some radio station. These types of 24/7 streams are labeled as Spark Farms, where viewers can simply farm “sparks,” which is Mixer’s virtual currency. However, these AFK streams serve no other purpose and don’t provide any value in terms of entertainment. In addition to the spark farms, there are also “follow for follow” channels that don’t provide any real value to the viewers either. Some community members have complained that these spark farms and follow for follow channels are hurting the community and preventing real creators from growing.
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Fortunately, Microsoft has been actively listening to the community’s feedback and finally took some serious action against such channels. In the latest Mixer’s LevelUpCast, the company announced that it’s taking action against these channels, “Starting next week, Mixer will no longer allow 24/7 spark farms nor follow for follow streams, where there’s nobody actually streaming.” Mixer is nailing down the fine print over how this works, but this shouldn’t impact legitimate 24/7 channels such as music stations and animal cams and such, on a “case by case” basis. Mixer will also include a 24/7 stream category in the future, for legitimate 24/7 streams and creative projects, and will include an appeal process in case someone is banned unfairly or wants to change their streaming model.”
It looks like that the days of these AFK streams are finally over, and legitimate content creators can finally get that precious space back on the platform. It remains to be seen if these changes are big enough to help Mixer bring in more popular streamers andcompete toe-to-toe with Twitchin terms of view count.
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