Amazon's Twitch cuts more than 500 jobs attempting to turn expensive platform profitable
Twitch, the video game streaming platform acquired by Amazon a decade ago for close to $1 billion, is laying off more than 500 employees as the company tries to turn the tremendously expensive division profitable.
Boards for Meta, Twitter face backlash from NY pension fund
A major New York pension fund that has invested in both Facebookโs corporate parent and Twitter believes itโs time to shake up the companiesโ boards of directors because of their inability to keep violent content off their influential social media services.
Twitch stops by to talk Ellenโs Game of Games
Stephen โTwitchโ Boss is a dancer, co-executive producer of The Ellen Show, and adding to his already impressive resume, the announcer of Ellenโs Game of Games. Today he stopped by to talk about just what itโs like to help run the games. โAdmittedly I have probably a little bit too much fun,โ Twitch said. He said that running the game is a bit like playing a game of dodge-ball and being the only one with a ball. He says in addition to being tons of fun, Ellenโs Game of Games serves a pretty important role.
7th Annual โ12 Days of GRiZMASโ is Dec. 12-23 on Twitch, Zoom
GRiZโs 7th Annual โ12 Days of GRiZMASโ Event Series is slated for Dec. 12-23, 2020. GRiZMAS will treat fans around the world to all the performances, activities, and community service initiatives. Since 2014, GRiZโs โ12 Days of GRiZMASโ series has made a true impact across Detroit communities, raising over $200,000 in the last two years alone. With local non-profit Seven Mile, GRiZMAS aims to raise funds for music education, art programs and coding lessons. This year, the series will be held digitally across Twitch and Zoom with events spanning from a cocktail day, Holiday Jazz Stream with GRiZ & Friends, a digital charity auction, community service day, a yoga day, and more.
Germany shooting suspect appears to have livestreamed attack online
Photo by Jens Schlueter/Getty Images(CNN) - A gunman who killed two people -- one outside a synagogue and one in a kebab shop -- in the German town of Halle on Wednesday appears to have streamed the attack live online. A 35-minute video, which appears to have been filmed with a camera mounted on the helmet of the attacker, was streamed live on Twitch, an online video streaming platform owned by Amazon that is most commonly used to stream live video of videogames. The suspected attacker launched into a brief anti-Semitic rant at one point in the video. The footage, which was filmed in a first-person shooter perspective, bears striking resemblances to the video streamed live on Facebook by the suspect in the Christchurch attack in New Zealand in March. The company added: "Twitch has a zero-tolerance policy against hateful conduct, and any act of violence is taken extremely seriously.
16-Year-Old Fortnite Champ Gets 'Swatted' While Livestreaming
Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf, the 16-year-old who won $3 million in the Fortnite World Cup, was the victim of a "swatting" prank Saturday as he was livestreaming on Twitch. On the livestream, Giersdorf could be heard saying, "I've been swatted." Altogether, it took about a half-hour to resolve the situation, Werner said, adding it's believed the call originated from Europe. Giersdorf's father told ABC News he had a message for whoever carried out the prank. RELATED STORIESFamily of Kansas Man Shot by Cops in 'Swatting' Hoax Sues Wichita, Local Police'Fresh Prince' Actor Alfonso Ribeiro Sues Fortnite for Allegedly Using 'Carlton Dance'Fortnite-Inspired Dance Classes Encourage Kids to Get Off the Couch
Teen Fortnite champion 'swatted' during livestream
(CNN) - Just two weeks ago, Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf won the $3 million championship in the Fortnite World Cup's solo competition. Kyle was in the middle of livestreaming a round of "Fortnite" on the video platform Twitch when he suddenly left the screen. The idea is to lure a SWAT team or other response team to the person's house. When Kyle came back to the livestream, he explained the situation, saying the SWAT team came in with guns. In April, a 17-year-old was charged with 40 felony and 33 misdemeanor delinquency charges in Ohio after making a number of prank swatting calls.
Bernie Sanders launches Twitch account
Sen. Bernie Sanders attends the Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve in New York City. (CNN) - Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has created his own Twitch account, but you probably won't catch him streaming "Fortnite" or "Overwatch" anytime soon. The 2020 presidential hopeful already has 14,158 followers on the live streaming platform popular with gamers, not a bad following considering the account was created Tuesday. "This campaign is about bring new people into the political process," Sanders' digital communications director, Josh Miller-Lewis, said. Sanders' fellow Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang also launched a Twitch channel in July 2018.