Game-swinging on Twitch: an affordances perspective

E. Mitchell Church () and Ravi Thambusamy
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E. Mitchell Church: Coastal Carolina University
Ravi Thambusamy: Coastal Carolina University

Electronic Markets, 2022, vol. 32, issue 3, No 37, 1677-1689

Abstract: Abstract Live-streaming is now a popular form of new media as well as an important driver of E-Commerce. Nowhere is this seen more than in video-game streaming on Twitch. Streaming platforms like Twitch now provide specific affordances specifically designed to promote and facilitate videogame-streaming. Developers too provide their own game-based affordances to encourage the streaming of their games. However, despite the popularity of Twitch with viewers and game developers, this dichotomy of platform- and game-based streaming affordances has received little attention. This study helps to fill this gap in the literature by exploring the factors that drive streamers use of both platform and videogame affordances as they create streaming content. The study uses empirical data on 5,656 Twitch streamers (n = 5,656) to examine how platform affordances are combined with those available in games through a process we call “game-swinging”. Key results of the study show that platform-based affordances lend themselves well to game-swinging behaviours, while videogame-based affordances may be difficult for streamers to utilize without specific emphasis on streaming a single-game. These and other findings yield a deeper understanding of the processes that drive live-streaming content creation across a variety of e-Commerce platforms.

Keywords: Twitch; Live-streaming; Game-swinging; Polymedia; Affordances (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s12525-022-00574-8

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