Twitch will continue to grow in 2022
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Twitch is the place to be if you’re a content creator looking to find a career in streaming. That might have sounded outlandish a decade ago but nowadays there are plenty of opportunities for people to carve out an audience and make some real money. That doesn’t seem like it will be slowing down anytime soon either, with the streaming business getting bigger and bigger.
In this article, we will be exploring what things to watch out for in 2022 and why we think they could shake the news headlines. Whether you’re an online slots player, an avid stream viewer, or your average casual watcher, we’re sure there will be something here for you.
Dr. DisRespect set to make a comeback
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Twitch streamer Guy Beahm, aka Dr DisRespect, was one of the most popular personalities on Twitch. A former pro-gamer for Call of Duty and Gears of War, he has become famous for his irreverent showmanship and strategies that keep viewers coming back.
Dr. DisRespect’s popularity has spread beyond Twitch and YouTube to TV networks such as ESPN, where he appeared in a segment with SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt, and on the big screen, where he played himself in Adam Sandler’s comedy The Ridiculous 6.
If he was so popular then why was he banned?
In a video posted a little while back, in March 2018, the streamer stated that he was “done with Twitch”. He continued, saying: “I’ve been streaming more than 300 days a year for the past four years, and I’m done with that […] I think it’s time to move on to different things.”
Dr. DisRespect came under fire for using racial slurs during his streams in February 2018. He later apologized for this saying: “After reflection from my past broadcasts, I want to apologize for my use of certain words while streaming Fortnite earlier this week.”
Why would he want to come back to Twitch?
One of the streamer’s resolutions for 2022 was to make a comeback on the streaming platform, alongside the launch of an alcohol business and even the release of a musical album. This aspiration, though, could be the most challenging on the list with his fractious relationship with the company meaning that most bridges have been burned.
He’s left and come back in the past, though he has been gone indefinitely since his most recent departure in 2020. We still don’t have a reason for this latest spat, though it seems clear that it’ll take some work for things to get resolved this time. Watch this space.
Could Among Us have a resurgence?
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Since the hugely popular online game exploded in popularity in 2020 it has struggled to get the same kind of numbers with the lack of innovation and the young audience proving to be the biggest struggles for the developers to deal with. The game was once everywhere but now looks to be consigned to the gaming history books.
The nature of the game made it highly shareable with the suspense and collaborative aspect meaning that the viewers could easily become immersed in the gameplay alongside the player. That being said, it did always seem to be on a limited run with the suspense only entertaining viewers for so long until it became repetitive and, quite frankly, boring.
The Among Us have been quietly working away to try and introduce some much-needed life into the game, recently announcing that new player roles will be available. Previously these roles have only been available via player-made mods and this latest development shows that they are listening to what players are saying and moving quickly to react.
It remains to be seen whether this will be enough to save the flatlining franchise but surely it’s worth a go. Cast your minds back 12 months… Among Us was absolutely everywhere and completely dominated the streaming space. If they can find a way to find that charm and uniqueness that made it so loved early on, maybe they can add some life into it once again.
Cross-platform streaming could be the future
There has been a huge spike in streamers looking to make use of their popularity to cross over to different platforms in an effort to further enhance their reputations and increase their earning potential. This is evidenced by many streamers clipping up segments of their Twitch streams to specifically post on short-form platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels.
Typically Twitch was the place that streamers with already decently-sized streamers would go to accelerate their growth and increase their brand’s value while TikTok was the place that smaller creators would post in order to find some kind of following that would follow them to some of the higher-earning potential platforms. That might be changing now.
That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore though with the influx of users, meaning that there is more incentive for advertisers to pay for ads which in turn means that there is more money for streamers to gain. There is no longer a stigma for users to stick to what they know anymore with it becoming clear that there is plenty of work and enough money to go around.
“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.” – Jeff Bezos.
