Originally Posted October 13, 2018 by Kobe Gorn
A book on an MMO and a book on esports, now, T.L. Taylor, a sociologist as well as a professor in comparative media studies, is releasing her findings on live-sreaming.
The book is called Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming. It features an in-depth look at what game live-streaming is, the variety of streams that are out there and the kinds of transformations that are ongoing today in the industry.
She began her study by taking a look at the esports industry, carefully examining the details of how this kind of real-time 24/7 access to live-stream gaming was revolutionizing the industry. Becoming a fan of an esport was difficult, considering there was a lack of platforms to watch games and events without attending the events themselves, leaving fans to scour for replay files and VODs [Video on demands]. She talks about how there became easier accessibility of live streaming to watch major tournaments and to follow popular players without struggling through any tantalizing search.
She wanted to bring the story of esports up to date. Around the time when her previous book, Raising the Stakes: E-sports and the Professionalization of Computer Gaming, was published, the platform of Twitch.tv and live-streaming as a whole began its rise. She became more interested in the scene, what was going on within Twitch, and how it was changing the esports industry. When she realized how much of an impact it was having on game culture, she quickly understood that within all of this brand new information, there was a bigger project waiting for her.
Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming, is currently available on Amazon and Princeton University Press; and will soon be accessible for free via Creative Commons.
