If you’ve heard of twitch.tv, it’s likely through one of two ways. One, you’ve been on the site yourself. Or two, you possibly heard about the absurdly popular Twitch Plays Pokemon phenomenon from a year ago. Either way, you might not know that Twitch is the home for a few of the most popular soccer games currently on the market including FIFA and Football Manager, and the site is surprisingly easy to use and a lot of fun to enjoy.
For those who don’t know what Twitch is, it’s a website (formerly justin.tv that made a pivot to twitch.tv) that features people from around the world playing video games. The concept is that you can sit back and watch people play your favorite game, for your viewing pleasure. Or, if you want to get involved, you can turn the tables and play your favorite game and then stream that to Twitch, so other people can watch you play.
Twitch is so popular that more than 100+ million unique viewers access the site to watch 20+ billion minutes of gaming a month. Not surprisingly, Twitch was acquired in 2014 — for $970 million by Amazon.
For soccer fans and gamers, there’s plenty in store on Twitch.
FIFA is the most popular soccer video game franchise to date and FIFA 15 is often featured on the front page of browsable games on twitch’s homepage. At any given time throughout the day, there are a multitude of channels hosting hundreds to thousands of viewers while they’re playing through different aspects of the game. All you have to do is search for FIFA, and you’ll find gamers from around the world streaming their games. It’s an ideal way to learn new moves and to see how your FIFA skills compare against the hardcore players.
Even Football Manager 2015 has a place on Twitch, and you can watch streamers going through the game making decisions. Looking for inspiration while trying to get Bradford City promoted to the Premier League? Well chances are there’s someone on Twitch trying to do something similar.
Pro Evolution Soccer 15 is also regularly played on Twitch, and while not all major teams have given their licenses to PES, it’s always interesting to see streamers play with teams titled “Merseyside Red” who are not technically Liverpool but sure do look a lot like them.
Setting up a broadcast is relatively easy and Twitch has a specific webpage to provide most of the answers to your Twitch questions. There are separate set-ups for PC games and console gamers but once you’re up and running, the result is similar.
Twitch is a great site for meeting people who share your passion for video games, and is a wonderful way to become a part of a gaming community first-hand instead of searching for random games on XBOX Live.
So check it out, or start streaming. And if you do, let us know what your username is in the comments section below, so we can check you out. Or tell us know who your favorite streamers are.
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