In 2007, streaming platform Twitch was founded, although it wasn’t the Twitch we know today. Beginning as Justin.tv, the platform was created as a general interest streaming platform by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear. When the gaming category grew especially fast, Twitch.tv was formed in 2011, to cover all things gaming. Unsurprisingly, it was this very same year that YouTube first launched their Live Streaming service and, well, you know the rest – Twitch is now reported to receive over 140 million unique monthly visitors, and with only live content available, all 140 million of these are watching the unique streaming content on offer.
Over the years gaming has proved a successful venture for thousands of content creators, with many founding lucrative careers out of it – by sharing their gaming experience with their viewers (often in the tens of thousands), creators have gone on to have collaborations, earn ad revenue, subscriber fees, and have found themselves becoming a trusted source for information and recommendations – far beyond the scope of simple gaming. However, another crossover has since appeared. Sure, creators that started as gaming streamers have gone on to build impressive lives whilst remaining in the gaming industry, but many have crossed over to the casino industry, now offering recommendations and reviews on casinos, gambling, and all things related, like real money pokies. Without gaming content, would we have as much casino content?
Gaming and Gambling – The Similarities
There could be a number of reasons for this overlap between gaming and online gambling, including perceived financial benefits of streaming gambling content, but outside of the reasons for the creators, why do viewers overlap so much? The simplest reason would be in what both gaming and gambling have been designed to do – of course to provide entertainment, but in many cases to provide a level of escapism. Even streaming itself, and social media in general, provides this level of escapism – an opportunity for viewers to come home from a long day at work and relax, watching their favourite content creator playing games, gambling online, even the ‘just chatting’ section has blown up – so much so that it is now the #1 section on Twitch.
No matter the niche you focus on – gaming, online gambling, chatting – streaming content offers a chance of community online, and an opportunity for viewers to feel part of a streamer’s experience – either in recommending games, offering tips, or just being given a shout out.
Why Is Online Gambling Streaming So Popular?
To discover why online gambling streaming is popular, we first must consider why online gambling is popular? It’s a pretty simple reason – comfort and efficiency. With the rise in smart phones, everything is at our fingertips nowadays. Whether you want to order takeout, order your weekly food shop, order a taxi, buy a Christmas gift, book a reservation, check directions, catch up on a missed episode of your favourite show, even create a birthday card – it can all be done on a 6-inch screen in our hands in a matter of a minutes. In many ways, we’ve lost a lot of our human interaction in the day to day, which is maybe why live streaming is so popular, but we’ve gained back efficiency in bucket loads.
So, with everything else at the touch of a button (or a screen), why would gamblers want to have to leave their home and travel for miles to enjoy gambling? Online gambling has increased in popularity because players want to enjoy their favourite real money pokies online, from the comfort of their own homes, without concern for parking, fuel costs, or even taxis home if they want to enjoy a drink or two.
This leads naturally into the rise of online gambling on streaming platforms. If you’ve ever been in a casino, you’ll know there’s nothing some players love more than to watch how everyone else is doing. This curiosity fuels online gambling streaming content, accompanied by the fact that streamers can show players new slots and help them to understand how they work, without the viewer risking their own money. Viewers can request to watch their favourite games, and even enter giveaways to win prizes, all from their own home, whilst becoming part of the community – chatting to other viewers in the Live Chat section, or even on streamers’ own websites, with many sites offering interactive forums. With all of this in mind, it’s a no brainer why online gambling streaming has become so popular.
Would We Have Casino Streaming Without Gaming?
And so, we come back to the initial question – would we have online gambling streamers, had we not had content creators streaming gaming? It’s hard to say. Streaming has become so popular, it seems crazy to think that, had Twitch not been founded, no one else would have had the idea. That said, the information we have in front of us now, along with years of evidence, points to the fact that Justin and Emmett are pioneers of much more than just Twitch. Their journey has taken us from streaming gaming, to just chatting, to streaming on YouTube, to a multitude of other platforms. From eSports, to music, to creative outlets – and of course, gambling. It’s possible that without live streaming platforms, the influencer industry in general might not be what it is, but that’s a conversation for another day.