The next big sports network has arrived, and it’s not on your cable box. Twitch.tv, the popular gaming video streaming website, has just secured $20 million in third round investment. With a total of $42 million raised so far, Twitch will use this funding to improve its infrastructure and provide better video streaming services globally. The website has seen a significant increase in its audience, now reaching over 45 million per month, compared to last year when it was only 22 million.
Twitch has been facing some challenges in serving its European and Asian customers, with complaints about laggy videos and performance issues. Although there have been some competitors in the past, like Own3d.tv, they are no longer in business. In order to stay ahead of potential future competitors, such as Google, Twitch needs to continue satisfying its customers and improve its capabilities.
The comparison of Twitch to ESPN for video games is becoming more accurate each day. Justin Wong, Twitch’s director of partnerships, noted that ESPN averages 750k concurrent viewers, a number that Twitch is now able to achieve as well. On any given day, Twitch has hundreds of thousands of viewers, and during major events, the number reaches millions. For example, Dota 2’s The International had 4.5 million viewers.
There may be a limit to Twitch’s growth, but with upcoming major events like the League Championship Series, there is no sign of reaching that limit yet. Twitch continues to dominate the esports streaming market and attract a large and dedicated audience.
Photo via Twitch.tv/Facebook