Tencent QQ, also known as QQ, is an instant messaging software service and web portal developed by the Chinese technology company Tencent. QQ offers services that provide online social games, music, shopping, microblogging, movies, and group and voice chat software. As of March 2023, there were 597 million monthly active QQ accounts.
Tencent Holdings Ltd. is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the world's largest company in the video game industry based on its investments, with Tencent Games being the subdivision of Tencent Interactive Entertainment Group (IEG) focused on publishing of games.
Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. It is often referred to simply as streaming, though recorded content, such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos, are streamed as well but not live.
Twitch is an American video live streaming service that focuses on video game live streaming, including broadcasts of esports competitions, in addition to offering music broadcasts, creative content, and "in real life" streams. Twitch is operated by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. It was introduced in June 2011 as a spin-off of the general-interest streaming platform Justin.tv. Content on the site can be viewed either live or via video on demand. The games shown on Twitch's current homepage are listed according to audience preference and include genres such as real-time strategy games (RTS), fighting games, racing games, and first-person shooters.
Critical Role is an American web series in which a group of professional voice actors plays Dungeons & Dragons. The show started streaming partway through the cast's first campaign in March 2015. Campaign one ended in October 2017 after 115 episodes, and campaign two started in January 2018 and ended in June 2021 after 141 episodes. A number of one-shots were aired in the hiatus between the two campaigns. After campaign two was completed, the spin-off limited series Exandria Unlimited aired from June 2021 to August 2021. The third campaign premiered on October 21, 2021.
QQ Music is one of three Chinese freemium music streaming services owned by Tencent Music, a joint venture between Tencent and Spotify. As of 2018, the service is set to reach over 700 million users with an estimated 120 million subscribers.
Mixer was an American video game live streaming platform. The service launched on January 5, 2016, as Beam, under the ownership of co-founders Matthew Salsamendi and James Boehm. The service placed an emphasis on interactivity, with low stream latency and a platform for allowing viewers to perform actions that can influence a stream.
Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- or two-day delivery of goods, and streaming music, video, e-books, gaming, and grocery shopping services. In April 2021, Amazon reported that Prime had more than 200 million subscribers worldwide.
The Nintendo Switch system software is an updatable firmware and operating system used by the Nintendo Switch video game console. It is based on a proprietary microkernel. The UI includes a HOME screen, consisting of the top bar, the screenshot viewer ("Album") Icons, and shortcuts to the Nintendo eShop, News, and Settings.
NetEase Cloud Music is a Chinese freemium music streaming service developed and owned by NetEase, Inc. The streaming service was launched to the public on 23 April 2013. In April 2017 it received its series A financing of 750 million CNY, and was valued at 8 billion CNY, making it a unicorn company. The main features of NetEase Cloud Music include playlists, live streaming, online karaoke, and social networking. As of May 2022, more than 450 thousand independent musicians have registered with NetEase Cloud Music, rising to over 611 thousand registered artists by December 2022 with a music database consisting of over 60 million songs. It is one of the biggest competitors in the Chinese music streaming business, primarily competing with Tencent's QQ Music.
The live streaming of video games is an activity where people broadcast themselves playing games to a live audience online. The practice became popular in the mid-2010s on the US-based site Twitch, before growing to YouTube, Facebook, China-based sites Huya Live, DouYu, and Bilibili, and other services. By 2014, Twitch streams had more traffic than HBO's online streaming service, HBO Go. Professional streamers often combine high-level play and entertaining commentary, and earn income from sponsors, subscriptions, ad revenue, and donations.
Tencent Games is the video game publishing division of Tencent Interactive Entertainment, itself a division of Tencent Holdings. It has five internal studio groups, including TiMi Studio Group. Tencent Games was founded in 2003 to focus on online games. In 2021, it launched its international Level Infinite brand, which is stated to be operated from its Singapore office.
Imane Anys, better known as Pokimane, is a Moroccan and Canadian social media personality, Twitch streamer and YouTuber. She is best known for her live streams on Twitch, where she broadcasts video game content, most notably in League of Legends and Fortnite. She is currently the most-followed female streamer on the platform. She is a co-founder of OfflineTV, an online social entertainment group of content creators. She left the organization on May 19, 2023.
OfflineTV is an online social entertainment group of content creators based in Los Angeles, California. They produce a wide range of content, from prank videos to vlogs to the housemates playing games together. The group maintains a large following on their social media platforms.
Huya Live is a Chinese video live streaming service. The site is one of the largest of its kind in China, and also operates globally as Nimo TV. Similar to other streaming services like Loco, the site primarily focuses on video game live streaming and includes official broadcasts of esports competitions. In addition, Huya also has live broadcasts for a variety of other genres, including cooking, traditional sports and "real life" streams.
Ludwig Anders Ahgren, known mononymously as Ludwig, is an American live streamer, YouTuber, podcaster, comedian, esports commentator, and competitor. Ahgren is best known for his live streams on Twitch from 2018 through late 2021, and on YouTube beginning in late 2021, where he broadcasts video-game-related content as well as non-video-game-related content such as game shows and contests. He is also known for his work as an esports commentator at various Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments. He is the co-owner of the esports organization Moist Esports. He began streaming full-time on February 16, 2019.
DouYu is a Chinese video live streaming service. The site is the largest of its kind in China with 163.6 million monthly active users in 2019, more than the 140 million monthly active users of Twitch. In July 2019 DouYu International Holdings Ltd raised $21 million through U.S. initial public offering (IPO) and it listed itself on the New York Stock Exchange (Nasdaq) with the stock symbol DOYU. It was the largest IPO of any Chinese company on Wall Street in 2019.
NFL on Prime Video is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games on the subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service Amazon Prime Video and on sister service Twitch as part of Prime Video Sports. Amazon currently holds exclusive streaming rights for Thursday Night Football.
On March 14, 2021, American livestreamer Ludwig Ahgren began continuously livestreaming on Twitch. The livestream ended on April 13, 2021, after 31 days. The livestream was a subathon: a type of stream where viewer donations lengthen a descending timer that determines the length of the stream. Ahgren received 282,191 subscriptions during his subathon, breaking the previous record set in 2018 by Tyler "Ninja" Blevins of the most concurrent subscribers on Twitch. The subathon's content consisted of talking to his viewers and stream moderators, playing games, and sleeping, among other various daily activities. During Ahgren's sleep breaks his moderators entertained the audience, for which they were financially compensated. Ahgren grossed US$1,434,850 from the stream, before taxes, charity donations, and other deductions. Not including sponsorships, Ahgren profited $202,000.
