Microsoft shuts down Mixer, partners with Facebook Gaming

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Microsoft's Mixer team revealed just a few hours ago that the end has come for the streaming service. Mixer, a game-focused streaming service similar to Twitch, will continue to run through July 22, 2020 according to Microsoft and redirect the domain to Facebook gaming after that date.

Microsoft had big plans for Mixer, a game streaming service that it developed after acquiring the core service Beam.pro. The company invested heavily in the platform and managed to lure the streamer Ninja to Mixer in order to boost its attractiveness and audience.

Mixer did not grow as much as Microsoft hoped it would according to the blog post and the decision was made to partner with Facebook Gaming instead.
 

Ultimately, the success of Partners and streamers on Mixer is dependent on our ability to scale the platform for them as quickly and broadly as possible. It became clear that the time needed to grow our own livestreaming community to scale was out of measure with the vision and experiences that Microsoft and Xbox want to deliver for gamers now, so we’ve decided to close the operations side of Mixer and help the community transition to a new platform.

Microsoft and Facebook will migrate the Mixer community to Facebook Gaming. The new platform has a sizeable monthly audience of 700 million users already according to Microsoft, and the partnership "brings the ability to partner closely with the Xbox ecosystem".

Mixer partners and streamers who participate in the monetization program will be granted partner status on Facebook Gaming or allowed to participate in Facebook Gaming's Level Up Program.

Streamers need to download past streams or VODs before July 22, 2020 in order to preserve them or upload them to another platform. Access to the content after July 22, 2020 requires "submitting a written request" according to Microsoft. The company promises that it will provide additional details on the process soon.

Mixer viewers can also connect their account; the main benefit of doing so is that Facebook provides a list of Facebook channels of subscribed Mixer channels.

All it takes is to open the Mixer page on Facebook to connect the Mixer account.

Mixer users with Ember balances, channel subscriptions or Mixer Pro subscriptions will receive Xbox Gift Card credit. Ember and Sparks can be spend until the shutdown, and streamers will receive double the amount in the month of June.

Xbox One gamers who used to stream to Mixer won't be able to do so anymore after July 22, 2020. Microsoft suggests that gamers use the Twitch app to stream to Twitch or connect to a PC and use streaming software such as OBS or XSplit for streaming.

The FAQ offers additional information.
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