An Open Response to Athene

(The current landscape of live broadcasting is shifting, and it’s leaving many broadcasters outside of Twitch very concerned about their future plans, whether its simply as a hobbyist or a business. Few have expressed this concern greater than Athene, who created the open letter seen below in this post.)

Athene,

Thank you for not only taking the time to share your thoughts with us, but for taking a chance and being so outspoken on this issue. We know it’s not always easy, and it doesn’t always please everyone, but it’s always appreciated.

As you and your fellow broadcasters consider the current circumstances and decide whether you’d like to be a part of the Twitch community, we’d like to take a few moments to address some of your key concerns, one of which is innovation. At Twitch, we’ve never been one to rest on our laurels and our roadmap for 2013 ensures that we have plenty of work ahead of us to continue expanding our infrastructure and improving our quality of service around the world.

Over the past year our audience has continued to grow month over month — a trend that shows no sign of slowing down — and because of that, both our partners and community alike expect greatness. They’ve come to trust and rely upon Twitch to provide exceptional service and it’s our challenge to meet that demand. Because of this, we understand that we must never stop innovating or improving our service.

Personally speaking, Athene, we’ve always admired your continuing efforts to put a positive face on the gaming world through your charity events, and prove to everyone else that there is much good to be found in our community. At Twitch you’d be in great company: Speed Demos Archive, Desert Bus for Hope, Extra Life… not to mention the broadcasters who, on a nearly daily basis, broadcast their games to Twitch for charity, who share your passion for goodwill and charitable causes. We understand that you’d like to have your revenue go directly to the charities, and we’ll absolutely work with you to figure out the best way to make this possible, should you decide to come to Twitch.

Finally, it’s very safe to say that there will always be another competitor. In fact, you mentioned a few yourself at the end of your open letter. We agree that competition is very healthy for both the business and the consumers, and not only are we expecting both future, as well as imminent competitors, but the responsibility we mentioned earlier will be more than enough to keep us honest. At Twitch we’ve always prided ourselves on taking the high road, dealing in long-term solutions and offering deals that are both fair and sustainable for our partners. We don’t participate in mud slinging and we let our service speak for itself.

We’re looking forward to hearing the response, not only from you but from the rest of the gaming community, as these are situations that affect us all. Good luck, Athene, and we hope to hear from you soon.