After more than four years trying to steal viewership away from Twitch, Microsoft has decided to close Mixer down. The platform, which managed to tempt the likes of Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins and Michael ‘Shroud’ Grzesiek to close the door on their partnerships with the purple platform, will be ending its services this time next month.
The platform has struggled to gain momentum in the industry despite housing some of the biggest streamers in the world, and as such, the platform will cease to exist on July 22. After this date, the website will redirect to Facebook Gaming, where Mixer streamers will be offered a new home – should they choose to accept.
While the decision has come as a shock to many, it’s well documented that Mixer has been struggling to compete with its competitors, something that Microsoft touches upon in its official statement. “Ultimately, the success of Partners and streamers on Mixer is dependent on our ability to scale the platform for them as quickly and broadly as possible,” the statement published on Mixer socials says. “It became clear that the time needed to grow our own livestreaming community to scale was out of measure with the vision and experiences that Microsoft and Xbox want to deliver for gamers now, so we’ve decided to close the operations side of Mixer and help the community transition to a new platform.”
Most of the streamers have now been contacted with the next steps they want to take if they wish to move over to Facebook Gaming. Mixer Partners will be granted partner status with Facebook Gaming and all prior agreements will be met “as closely as possible” by the social media giant. Streamers taking part in Mixer’s open monetisation program will also be fast-tracked for the Facebook Gaming Level Up Program.
Mixer Partners, streamers, and community – today, we’ve got some very big news for you.
While we’ve decided to close the operations side of Mixer, we’re officially partnering with @FacebookGaming and we’re cordially inviting all of you to join.
📰 https://t.co/E1eMDvjYQb pic.twitter.com/554hHAXfaB
— Mixer (@WatchMixer) June 22, 2020
Mixer users are being encouraged to use up the last of their remaining Embers and Sparks before the platform closes its doors on July 22. Users who haven’t spent them will receive an Xbox Gift Card credit, but Mixer wants you to spend them because it’s doubling the earnings of all of its partners this month.
But what does this mean for Ninja and Shroud? Well according to Vivek Sharma, the head of Facebook Gaming, who spoke to The Verge earlier today, what they decide to do is “up to them.”
This means we could well see the popular duo make their way back to Twitch in the very near future.