Can Twitch Survive? CEO Dan Clancy at Twitchcon
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As live-streaming becomes an increasingly dominant form of entertainment, Twitch is at a crossroads. On one hand, the platform is an undeniable powerhouse in the live-streaming space. It has evolved from a primarily desktop streaming platform to a mobile streaming app that facilitates hours of just chatting and IRL streams. Soon you’ll even be able to stream to Twitch via Meta’s AI RayBan smart glasses.
But not everything is rosy. The platform has struggled to effectively monetize, monthly usage has fallen off since 2020 peaks, and it’s facing increased competition from TikTok Live and YouTube. The culture on Twitch has also been called toxic and hostile for women creators.
Dan Clancy is the CEO of Twitch and it’s his job to navigate these choppy waters. He sat down with me this weekend at Twitchcon to discuss how Twitch is evolving, its broader role in the creator economy over the next 10 years, competition from Hollywood, and how he thinks about balancing streamers’ creative freedom with safety concerns. Here’s our interview.