Mixer sees viewership rise to more than 20 million

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
published

Mixer has come a long way since Microsoft acquired the streaming service.

Mixer
Mixer (Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft had a whole lot to show off during its E3 2018 press conference, but there was also a nugget of bright news for the company's streaming service, Mixer, that flew under the radar. Buried in Microsoft's roundup of all of its E3 2018 news (opens in new tab), the company revealed that Mixer's viewership has reached more than 20 million, doubling from where it was six months ago.

The last update we had on Mixer's size came in January when the service revealed it had 10 million monthly active users. For comparison, Twitch, which is currently top dog in the streaming space, has more than 100 million monthly active users. Still, Mixer has experienced quite a bit of growth since its humble beginnings under its former name, Beam.

Since the service was acquired by Microsoft, the company has integrated its streaming capabilities in Windows 10 and Xbox One. Mixer has also been quick to add new features requested by the community. Along with celebrating its first anniversary last month, the service teased a refreshed experience on the web, along with more ways for developers to add interactive elements to Mixer streams.

If you're keen to give Mixer a go for yourself, the service will be streaming a number of the major press conferences from E3 2018 this week. And if you tune in to Microsoft's Inside Xbox segments while signed into your Microsoft account, you'll also be able to pick up some free MixPot goodies as well.

You can also follow all of our exploits on Mixer, including our weekly podcast and some gaming fun, by subscribing to the Windows Central Mixer channel.

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

6 Comments
  • I thought about becoming a mixer streamer before it became to oversaturated.
  • Glad to see the usership increase. I've started forcing myself to use it more and it mostly satisfies. I still can't get notifications working for it on Edge (permissions thing maybe? Works for other sites for me) but it's solid. Currently using the Mixer Go app so I can run the E3 stream in the compact overlay while "working".
  • So Mixer went from basically nothing to 10 million monthly active users last year, and now they've doubled that a half a year later to 20 million, putting them at 1/5 the size of Twitch. That is some hugely impressive growth. Imagine if they released apps for Windows 10, PS4, and Switch, advertised the service more, and snagged a couple big Twitch streamers (they already got Renee coming over soon) or exclusive esports streaming rights. They could close the Twitch gap in a hurry. More so, though, I think that Mixer has a ton of potential to be the future of gaming in a lot of ways, but mostly with the Share your Controller and interactivity features. Can't wait to see where they go with this.
  • Thought mixerwas baked into windows 10 via the Win + G shortcut in game. I used it for WoW and was streaming right away vs. Twitchs 3rd part app reqt.
  • Microsoft acquired Beam and made it better. Now, where are the people who complained about Github acquisition.
  • I've tried streaming on all three, and love the fact you can stream with Mixer just by pressing the Xbox button on your controller. No need to mess around with OBS settings.