NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM
Microsoft will no longer be partnered with Mixer as a streaming service from July 22 and will instead move to Facebook Gaming.
“We started pretty far behind, in terms of where Mixer’s monthly active viewers were compared to some of the big players out there,” says Spencer. “I think the Mixer community is really going to benefit from the broad audience that Facebook has through their properties, and the abilities to reach gamers in a very seamless way through the social platform Facebook has.”
According to a blog post from Microsoft, moving to Facebook Gaming means that over the coming weeks viewers and streamers will begin transitioning over from Mixer. From July 22 all users who open Mixer will be automatically redirected to Facebook Gaming. Any Mixer Partners will remained partnered on Facebook Gaming, as well as those who are associated with the monetization programme will be added to Facebook Level Up equivalent.
Users who have Embers or Sparks credits to spends on the service are encouraged to do so now, in an effort to help support their favourite streamers. Any outstanding credit, channel or Mixer pro subscriptions will be gifted an Xbox Gift Card instead.
Over the past few years Microsoft has gained huge gaming personalities such as the Fortnite community famous Ninja, to stream exclusively on the Mixer service. Any such partners are now free to choose their streaming services as the contracts with Mixer have been voided.
In an additional news post from Xbox, Spencer also stated that one of the reasons for the departure comes from Microsoft’s desire to deliver its xCloud service – a game streaming service reminiscent of Google Stadia – to a wider audience.
“[A] key to this vision is our Project xCloud technology, which we see delivering games to all kinds of screens and windows in your life, including those on Facebook,” explains Spencer. “Gaming is already part of our social fabric, and Project xCloud can take you from discussing a new game – whether it’s a funny in-game moment posted by a friend, an ad, or an ongoing stream – directly to playing it.”
Amongst the transition to Facebook Gaming, Microsoft will also be porting over the streaming technology crafted for Mixer.
“Although the Mixer community will be able to transition to Facebook Gaming, the innovative technology that powered the platform will stay with and live on across Microsoft,” Spencer explains. “Microsoft Teams will leverage Mixer’s deep investments in ultra-low latency video streaming, real-time interactivity, and video distribution technology to accelerate our ability to support a variety of video-first, virtual experiences from meetings to live events to other broadcast scenarios.
The post Microsoft is closing down Mixer: “We started pretty far behind” appeared first on NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.
