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Trigger happy: the amazing rise of Twitch | Twitch | The Guardian

theguardian.com · 2,198 words · saved by 2 readers

How did a site that live streams people playing video games in their bedrooms become as big as YouTube? C hris “Sacriel” Ball’s computer is worth £20,000 and looms over me like a monolith. It is a completely silent machine, an alien spacecraft, and pulses with orange-yellow tubes of coolant, which keep the graphics card and motherboard from melting out of it like an ice pop. This machine is used to kill people: three, so far, today, but there will be countless more over the next eight hours. Behind there’s a looming greenscreen, as though Ball is an especially violent weather presenter; in front, a bank of four computer screens, each streaming an unending loop of information. Ball is a gaming streamer. He started seven years ago on YouTube, then pivoted to Twitch. And now it supports him and a team of over 20. His house is the most beautiful home I’ve ever been to. His kitchen is a palace and his dogs are adorable. I wonder briefly if anyone would pay to watch me play Fortnite in just

‘His day off is chosen by the algorithm. Currently it favours Fridays’: Chris ‘Sacriel’ Ball at home. Photograph: Theo McInnes/The Observer View image in fullscreen ‘His day off is chosen by the algorithm. Currently it favours Fridays’: Chris ‘Sacriel’ Ball at home. Photograph: Theo McInnes/The Observer Twitch This article is more than 6 years old Trigger happy: the amazing rise of Twitch This article is more than 6 years old How did a site that live streams people playing video games in their bedrooms become as big as YouTube? Joel Golby Sun 8 Sep 2019 07.00 EDT Last modified on Thu 16 Apr 20

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