Microsoft has announced that it will close its Mixer streaming service on 22 July, and is encouraging Mixer’s streaming community to migrate to Facebook’s equivalent service, Facebook Gaming.
Speaking to The Verge, Microsoft’s head of gaming Phil Spencer justified the unexpected move by asserting that Mixer had failed to gain the widespread audience that Microsoft expected. Spencer said: “We started pretty far behind, in terms of where Mixer’s monthly active viewers were compared to some of the big players out there. 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.”
The move has sent shockwaves through the game-streaming community: Microsoft spent a lot of money persuading top Twitch streamers Ninja (real name Tyler Blevins) and Shroud (aka Michael Grzesiek) to defect to Mixer – Ninja left Twitch as recently as August 2019, and reportedly signed a Mixer contract worth $20 to $30 million. Mixer was originally launched as Beam in January 2016, before Microsoft acquired it in August 2016 and rebranded it as Mixer in 2017.
The Verge also talked to Facebook Gaming’s head Vivek Sharma, who confirmed that Ninja, Shroud and other popular Mixer streamers will be released from their existing contracts; Sharma said: “It’s up to them and their priorities.”
Ninja tweeted: “I love my community and what we built together on Mixer. I have some decisions to make and will be thinking about you all as I make them.” Shroud chipped in with a similarly non-committal statement: “I appreciate the Mixer community and everything I’ve been able to do on the platform. I love you guys and am figuring out my next steps.” Both can afford to take their time: they are rumoured to have received respective pay-offs of $30 million and $10 million from Mixer, and to have turned down offers from Facebook Gaming worth close to double the amount of their Mixer contracts.
Another reason touted as being behind Microsoft’s typically ruthless strategic decision to shutter Mixer is the company’s desire to concentrate on popularising its forthcoming Project xCloud service, which will deliver the company’s games via streaming (and thereby compete with Google’s Stadia). Spencer admitted as much, saying about the decision to close Mixer and partner with Facebook Gaming: “It wasn’t as much about return on sell, it was about finding a partnership that was the best things for the community and streamers. We think this is it, and it gives us a great place to launch more xCloud content and give gamers the ability to play from there.”
