Gaming on Twitter under Elon Musk- Twitter Gaming layoff, Twitter Blue, YouTubers on Twitter, and more
Twitter's $44 billion acquisition by Elon Musk closed on October 28, after which the platform has been synonymous with chaos, all thanks to the new policies. On that note, here are certain points to consider about gaming & its future on Twitter.
Screenshot from the official Twitter handle of Elon Musk
The past two weeks have been spent witnessing netizens, on their toes, anticipating Elon Musk’s next move. And he has been keeping up, providing quite the scoop. From firing CEO Parag Agrawal, to hordes of teams at an end, Musk has done it all ever since he completed his acquisition of Twitter in October. The question that we are now posed is, will the effects of these events spill over to the gaming community as well? Let us check the different facets to take note of in this regard, and find out.
Twitter Gaming is dead since Nov 3
First and foremost, the mass layoff of the entire marketing team of Twitter Gaming should be brought to your attention. As reported by The Washington Post, Musk’s drive of letting go of Twitter’s monetarily exhaustive teams has made Twitter Gaming its other victim. As for Twitter Gaming, a former employee describes it as a platform that promoted creators and events via organic engagement. Regardless, the platform has existed since 2015, all this while, almost quietly working behind the scenes. It now seems to be gone for good.
where TWAB
— Twitter Gaming (@TwitterGaming) November 3, 2022
You don’t have to treat people this way pic.twitter.com/YLBJdJqvkH
— Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) November 13, 2022
The gamers' future on Twitter
Twitter has been a vital platform in the gaming and eSports circles. From breaking news to community feedback, even promotions, Twitter has been one of those few go-to platforms for both creators and players alike. On that note, while Twitter Gaming may just be one team in question, there’s still more to consider when discussing the future of gamers on Twitter.
On one hand, there’s a group threatening to move out of Twitter, over the bitterness that Musk’s policies have left the space with. It stems from not only the mass layoffs like those of Twitter Gaming but also other changes like the Twitter Blue subscription. The sheer number of cases of fake accounts, exposed how vulnerable gaming creators and developers are to losing their legitimacy in the space.
There’s also the question of the affordability of an $8 subscription bill, which finds relevance in third-world countries like India. Such policies further distance a sizeable community in our country, from their dedicated audience, thus encouraging their recent dissonance. Irrespective of whether Twitter Blue is now on hold, these are facts that were established, and cannot be forgotten anytime soon.
Twitter for the bucks- Gaming streamers to be roped in
As for Musk, his plan is to maximize the profits of the company. With the mass layoffs, the world’s richest man set the ball rolling to actualize this goal. Twitter Blue on the other hand, as a step towards monetization, may have been put on hold at the moment- but Musk is not stopping anytime soon.
The latest is that Musk is planning to introduce ‘paid DMs’ to draw YouTubers over to Twitter. Popular streamers have reportedly been offered a 10% hike incentive, on what they are paying to promote their content on YouTube. Elon Musk also seems to be a fan of the idea of getting YouTube Gaming’s former head, Ryan Wyatt on board. Though Wyatt left YouTube earlier this year in February, it was during his eight-year-long stint that the company’s profits from monetization reached new heights. Ryan “Fwiz” Wyatt, is currently the CEO of Polygon Studios.
Ran Gaming at YT for almost 8 years. YT’s monetization is pretty damn good and it would be considerable MG’s to ensure this bump, but definitely would draw more eyeballs to the platform. Gaming alone had ~350M logged in daily users at YT when I was there.
— Ryan Wyatt (@Fwiz) November 14, 2022
So paid blue ticks or not, is monetization coming for Twitter? We’ll get to know for sure very soon as Elon Musk further unravels his plans for the platform. In the meantime, here’s what Microsoft Gaming and Xbox Head, Phil Spencer, had to say about Musk’s takeover of Twitter, “We always think about where our brands and communities show up. It’s an important consideration for us.” Should we also consider The Game Awards’ recent collaboration and a probable shift to the platform Discord on the same note? Let’s keep this question open for now, shall we?