Microsoft has (unexpectedly but maybe also kind of expectedly) announced that its live-streaming service is going offline at the end of July, with a transition over to Facebook Gaming.
First acquired in 2016 as Beam, and subsequently re-launched in 2017 as Mixer, Microsoft’s live-streaming service has consistently dragged behind competitors Twitch and YouTube, even despite signing streamer superstar Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and his millions of subscribers last year.
“We weren’t achieving the goals that we needed to achieve in order to deliver on that community and opportunity that our creators and streamers needed,” Xbox boss Phil Spencer tells VentureBeat. “So earlier this year, I had to make decisions about where to focus our resources. And we decided that we weren’t going to continue on the path that we were on with Mixer, but rather look for a partner that could help us deliver on our long-term vision for gaming, and a partner who shared that vision opportunity, and allowed us to continue to invest in the areas that were important to us and redirect our teams and our resources.”
From 22 July, Mixer links will redirect users to Facebook Gaming instead, a choice that is inevitably going to be controversial with a lot of users because, you know, it’s Facebook.