Hello! Im Matt, one of the co-founders of Mixer and engineering lead on the platform at Microsoft. Huge welcome to all of you new visitors who are checking out Mixer today for the very first time. We think we have something pretty special here, and are excited to share it with you.
Those of you who are already a part of our community
.youve probably noticed a lot of changes today, starting with the name. Today marks a big evolution of our interactive live-streaming platform and a new name for the service: Mixer. But, more than just the name, were launching several of the features that you all have been asking for. Features that will unlock a whole new world of possibilities for social streaming, and help viewers find the content theyre looking for across the service.
Why the name change? This was a tough decision, and not one that we made lightly. But, it was something that we decided on as a team. We believe so much in the power of the platform and want to grow it in every major market around the world. Unfortunately, that wasnt something we could do with the Beam name. We chose Mixer as our new name because it represents what we love most about the service
.how it brings people together.
It brings people together through the core experience and special sauce that our fans already know and love: the ability to not just watch streams, but to also interact with streamers and play together in near real-time. In other words, Mixer is livestreaming thats actually LIVE, compared to the 10 20 second latency you typically get on other platforms. Whats more, viewers can actively participate in whats happening on screen instead of just watching from the sidelines. With Mixer, you can influence everything from quest selection to tools to movement, mixing it up with your favorite streamers to create a new kind of gaming experience. The Minecraft team is experimenting with the interactivity that Mixer offers as a possibility for official game integration. And, some Minecraft community members have already created interactive experiences using this technology that allow viewers to do things like spawn in zombies or change the weather.
This gets to the heart of what Mixer means for us. We want to empower gamers and everyone who wants to share their passion whatever it may be to create and share more easily than ever before across PC, console and mobile. Mixer represents our vision for the next generation of multiplayer watching and participating alongside your friends in gameplay streaming from anywhere in the world.
Crowd Play from Telltale Games
One fantastic example of interactivity in action is from our friends at Telltale Games.
Ever wondered what itd be like to play a game with a dynamic interactive story where hundreds or thousands of other people are voting on a players choices? Well, Telltale Games has designed something truly unique. Their Crowd Play feature in Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier and BATMAN: The Telltale Series allows an audience to choose what happens at story moments and determine the trajectory and outcome of the adventure.
Theyve already debuted games on the big screen in theaters and at gaming conventions where hundreds of fans have lined up to help vote on decisions from their mobile devices. In the online space, this type of live audience interaction is only possible on a service without latency issues since its important that the dialogue and gameplay feel smooth and natural. Whats especially exciting is that Telltale plans to bring this unique type of massive online player participation to streamers and players around the world in all their future projects.
