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Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming
A look at the revolution in game live streaming and esports broadcasting
Every day thousands of people broadcast their gaming live to audiences over the internet using popular sites such as Twitch, which reaches more than one hundred million viewers a month. In these new platforms for interactive entertainment, big esports events featuring digital game competitors live stream globally, and audiences can interact with broadcasters--and each other--through chat in real time. What are the ramifications of this exploding online industry? Taking readers inside home studios and backstage at large esports events, Watch Me Play investigates the rise of game live streaming and how it is poised to alter how we understand media and audiences.
Through extensive interviews and immersion in this gaming scene, T. L. Taylor delves into the inner workings of the live streaming platform Twitch. From branding to business practices, she shows the pleasures and work involved in this broadcasting activity, as well as the management and governance of game live streaming and its hosting communities. At a time when gaming is being reinvented through social media, the potential of an ever-growing audience is transforming user-generated content and alternative distribution methods. These changes will challenge the meaning of ownership and intellectual property and open the way to new forms of creativity.
The first book to explore the online phenomenon Twitch and live streaming games, Watch Me Play offers a vibrant look at the melding of private play and public entertainment.
Every day thousands of people broadcast their gaming live to audiences over the internet using popular sites such as Twitch, which reaches more than one hundred million viewers a month. In these new platforms for interactive entertainment, big esports events featuring digital game competitors live stream globally, and audiences can interact with broadcasters--and each other--through chat in real time. What are the ramifications of this exploding online industry? Taking readers inside home studios and backstage at large esports events, Watch Me Play investigates the rise of game live streaming and how it is poised to alter how we understand media and audiences.
Through extensive interviews and immersion in this gaming scene, T. L. Taylor delves into the inner workings of the live streaming platform Twitch. From branding to business practices, she shows the pleasures and work involved in this broadcasting activity, as well as the management and governance of game live streaming and its hosting communities. At a time when gaming is being reinvented through social media, the potential of an ever-growing audience is transforming user-generated content and alternative distribution methods. These changes will challenge the meaning of ownership and intellectual property and open the way to new forms of creativity.
The first book to explore the online phenomenon Twitch and live streaming games, Watch Me Play offers a vibrant look at the melding of private play and public entertainment.
328 pages, Hardcover
Published October 16, 2018
24 people are currently reading
210 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 26, 2019
This book offers a very thorough discussion of live game-streaming. The writing is very academic, which makes for a sophisticated discussion, but not the quickest read. The author places live game-streaming in a historical context explaining how the phenomenon is not new, rather, it is a logical extension of previous broadcast media such as television. It is interesting that the author provides more history of broadcast media than of gaming to contextualize live game-streaming. The book does a nice job of discussing many important issues related to this type of participatory culture from harassment on the platform to the legal challenges streamers face. It was a heavy, but very much worthwhile read.
August 2, 2020
I went into this book with flawed hopes and expectations. I had hoped it would deal with the psychology behind some viewers apparent fiscal irresponsibility in regards to donations and how the whole system of donations and hype trains is much like poker machines, designed with psychology in mind. The system essentially uses the same gimmicks as poker machines to encourage viewers with low will power to donate more, to feel part of the group.
Unfortunately, this book barely touched on that subject, even though I wouldn't be surprised if this process comes under heavy scrutiny if not legislative pressure much like loot boxes and hopefully microtransactions. However it is not the books fault for my flawed expectations, that lies solely on me.
That aside the book was ok, for anyone familiar with twitch and streaming, not much new is learnt here but for boomers and anyone not familiar with the concept, it is a great read for understand the concept and reasoning behind peoples choice to do it.
Unfortunately, this book barely touched on that subject, even though I wouldn't be surprised if this process comes under heavy scrutiny if not legislative pressure much like loot boxes and hopefully microtransactions. However it is not the books fault for my flawed expectations, that lies solely on me.
That aside the book was ok, for anyone familiar with twitch and streaming, not much new is learnt here but for boomers and anyone not familiar with the concept, it is a great read for understand the concept and reasoning behind peoples choice to do it.
February 5, 2019
Read my review on Open Letters Review: https://openlettersreview.com/open-le...
July 29, 2020
If you are looking for a highly theoretical examination of Twitch and streaming culture, this is a good book for you. However, as Taylor notes, the speed of change in technology is quite rapid. The book takes a snapshot of a time in Twitch culture that is already a few years old. Developments since that time influence the power of the book.
The strength of this text is in providing an academic "starting point" for analysis. There's plenty here on the culture of gaming and how that intersects with the commercialism of "entertainment." In that way, there's much to consider about the rise of esports, live streaming, and gaming overall.
The book does feel a bit overly analytical for a popular read. It's more slated for sociologists or cultural critics rather than a casual gaming reader. The best thing about gaming culture is following along the stories of many of the great personalities and, in esports, teams. Because of the nature of this study, the author anonymized many of those interesting storylines. This was a negative for pulling the reader into the book. The structure was one of analytical chapters rather than any sense of narrative or story. It would have been nice to learn more about the back story of streamers like Ninja, Shroud, or Dr Disrespect. It would have been helpful to hear stories about Twitch's growth with not just statistics and demographics, but the moments that have marked Twitch's meteoric rise from a fringe website to a major player in entertainment.
Scholars of Internet culture or gaming will find quotable sections in this book, but I would not assign it for a reading in a college-level course. This is not for the casual reader or person interested in gaming in a broad sense. It's an academic book from start to finish.
The strength of this text is in providing an academic "starting point" for analysis. There's plenty here on the culture of gaming and how that intersects with the commercialism of "entertainment." In that way, there's much to consider about the rise of esports, live streaming, and gaming overall.
The book does feel a bit overly analytical for a popular read. It's more slated for sociologists or cultural critics rather than a casual gaming reader. The best thing about gaming culture is following along the stories of many of the great personalities and, in esports, teams. Because of the nature of this study, the author anonymized many of those interesting storylines. This was a negative for pulling the reader into the book. The structure was one of analytical chapters rather than any sense of narrative or story. It would have been nice to learn more about the back story of streamers like Ninja, Shroud, or Dr Disrespect. It would have been helpful to hear stories about Twitch's growth with not just statistics and demographics, but the moments that have marked Twitch's meteoric rise from a fringe website to a major player in entertainment.
Scholars of Internet culture or gaming will find quotable sections in this book, but I would not assign it for a reading in a college-level course. This is not for the casual reader or person interested in gaming in a broad sense. It's an academic book from start to finish.
August 14, 2019
Very good read on game streaming, Twitch, and everything it touches like regulation, creativity, content, privacy, etc. It’s very interesting, insightful, and covers aspects of social, economic, political, and transformative matters pretty up to date.
July 29, 2020
A bit dry/academic, but an informative read
January 24, 2021
Not my kinda cultural study.
January 2, 2022
A foundational piece to everyone who's trying to understand Twitch and streaming culture.
April 13, 2025
An excellent book that examines Twitch from a social sciences perspective. The writing is compelling, and all the chapters are interesting (even those that focus on law and policy, which is usually not my cup of tea).
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews