Twitch launches

Justin.tv spins off the gaming division as viewer numbers soar and partnerships make streaming e-sports marginally profitable, thanks to the popularity of Halo and Starcraft. Twitch.com is named for gameplay that tests player reaction times. Kan and Shear don’t give traffic figures but say the spinoff threshold of 3.2 million monthly uniques for gaming streams and content was ‘blown away.’ Other metrics that triggered the launch include an average 4.5 hours a month watched by Justin.tv viewers compared with an average three hours a month of video watched by internet users, gaming video views of nearly 50 million a month, and growth of 400% in the e-sports division since the company created it.