T.L. Taylor [T.L. Taylor] - Watch Me Play

WATCH ME PLAY

Princeton Studies in Culture and Technology

Tom Boellstorff and Bill Maurer, series editors

This series presents innovative work that extends classic ethnographic methods and questions into areas of pressing interest in technology and economics. It explores the varied ways new technologies combine with older technologies and cultural understandings to shape novel forms of subjectivity, embodiment, knowledge, place, and community. By doing so, the series demonstrates the relevance of anthropological inquiry to emerging forms of digital culture in the broadest sense.

Sounding the Limits of Life: Essays in the Anthropology of Biology and Beyond by Stefan Helmreich with contributions from Sophia Roosth and Michele Friedner

Digital Keywords: A Vocabulary of Information Society and Culture edited by Benjamin Peters

Democracys Infrastructure: Techno-Politics and Protest after Apartheid by Antina von Schnitzler

Everyday Sectarianism in Urban Lebanon: Infrastructures, Public Services, and Power by Joanne Randa Nucho

Disruptive Fixation: School Reform and the Pitfalls of Techno-Idealism by Christo Sims

Biomedical Odysseys: Fetal Cell Experiments from Cyberspace to China by Priscilla Song

Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming by T. L. Taylor

Watch Me Play

Twitch and the
Rise of Game
Live Streaming

T. L. Taylor

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

PRINCETON AND OXFORD

Copyright 2018 by Princeton University Press

Published by Princeton University Press

41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540

6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TR

press.princeton.edu

All Rights Reserved

LCCN 2018946247

ISBN 978-0-691-16596-7

ISBN (pbk) 978-0-691-18355-8

British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

Editorial: Fred Appel and Thalia Leaf

Production Editorial: Natalie Baan

Jacket/Cover Design: Amanda Weiss

Production: Jacqueline Poirier

Publicity: Taylor Lord

Copyeditor: Cindy Milstein

This book has been composed in Adobe Text Pro and Gotham

Printed on acid-free paper.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Pop, through whom I found my love of television

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Writing a book is, for me, a long process involving the curiosity and excitement of exploration during research followed by the tough marathon of synthesizing and externalizing years of work via writing. I am incredibly grateful to have had so many wonderful people to lean on during that cycle over the last six years of this project.

First and foremost, my profound thanks to the many folks working in live streaming who have been so generous with their time and insights. Your letting me interview you, shadow you at events, visit your homes, and examine this fascinating domain through your experiences has been irreplaceable. Special thanks to both Twitch and the Electronic Sports League, which were kind enough to open their organizational doors to me and provide glimpses to a side of this industry most of us rarely see. That so many people from each company were willing to explain their work, show me what they do, and discuss complex issues with me made this research possible. They have my deep appreciation.

Sincere thanks to Kendra Albert, Ian Condry, Megan Finn, Kishonna Gray, Dan Greene, Flourish Klink, Greg Lastowka, Claudia Lo, Kat Lo, Kaelan Coyle McDonough, Kate Miltner, Dylan Mulvin, Hector Postigo, Jesse Sell, Adrienne Shaw, Abe Stein, Jonathan Sterne, Nick Taylor, William Uricchio, Jing Wang, and Emma Witkowski for additional valuable input and conversations along the way. My appreciation to Morgan Romine, my co-conspirator at AnyKey, for sharing in the work we do, which often provided useful insights to this project. Thanks to Tom Boellstorff and Bill Mauer for bringing this project into their Culture and Technology series as well as for helpful input at crucial moments. Thanks to Princeton University Presss Fred Appel, Natalie Baan, Thalia Leaf, Cindy Milstein, and the manuscripts anonymous reviewers for valuable feedback and support.

I owe a special debt to the Social Media Collective at Microsoft Research New England, especially Nancy Baym, Tarleton Gillespie, and Mary Gray. I had an amazing experience being hosted there for a number of months, and the entire group was willing to read a draft of this manuscript and offer incredible feedback; it was both truly encouraging and insightful in pushing the work to the next level.

A special shout-out to Mary Gray, who in addition to supporting my visit to Microsoft, was my regular conversation and writing partner during this project; I couldnt have done it without ya! Your always-astute feedback, caring encouragement, and being just an amazing all-around friend helped keep me paddling.

Finally as always, my sincerest gratitude and affection to Micke, who despite hearing me say never again! after each book, continues to support and cheer me on in ways large and small. Im truly lucky to have you in my life.

WATCH ME PLAY

Broadcasting Ourselves

In May 2012, I was sitting on my sofa browsing the internet when I stumbled on a website showing a live feed of a StarCraft 2 computer game tournament taking place in Paris. In esports competitions, professional players compete in a formal tournament setting for prize money. Having done research and written a book on esports, I was familiar with game broadcasting attempts over the years, but this production particularly caught my eye. The event was taking place at the beautiful Le Grand Rex concert hall, and camera shots of an energetic, cheering audience of over two thousand people were interspersed with live feeds of the game competition. The strange world of StarCraft, populated and fought over by human Terrans, otherworldy Protoss, and creepy insectoid Zergs, shared screen time with the faces of the players, commentators, and audience that filled the large theater. Yet there was also another set of spectatorsones solely participating online. Along with thousands of others around the world, I was watching this match in real time over the internet. On our screens, alongside the video piping out from Paris, a chat stream (an old-school Internet Relay Chat [IRC] channel) flowed by with hundreds of people talking to each other about the event, and cheering through text and emoticons.

As someone who has not only studied gaming but also has roots in internet studies, virtual environments, and synchronous computer-mediated communication, my research ears perked up. What caught my attention was not only the spectatorship; it was also the forms of communication and presence among broadcasters and audience, both on-site at the venue and distributed throughout the network. I was intrigued by the experience as a media event. This show was being broadcast to a huge global audience, and as I came to learn over the course of that night, was being talked about in a variety of other online spaces such as Twitter. I had my television on in the background, but soon turned the volume down. This game channel being broadcast on my laptop captured my full attention. It was immediately clear to me that I needed to explore this space more.

That feelingthat I was not watching alone but instead alongside thousands of others in real timewas powerful. It was a familiar, resonant experience for me. Ive long loved television, especially live content, and even as a kid I felt its pull. I remember getting a small black-and-white television in my bedroom as a preteen, and staying up late to watch