Mixer.com: What It Was and What You Need To Know

This article explains what Mixer was, how it worked, and how it differed from Twitch.

Mixer was a free video game streaming website and service owned by Microsoft. Mixer was originally named Beam but was rebranded as Mixer due to the Beam name being unavailable in all regions.

Mixer was in direct competition with Amazon's popular Twitch streaming service that also focuses on live broadcasts relating to video games. Both streaming services also have a small percentage of users who choose to stream video content relating to cosplay, food, live podcast recording, and casual conversation.

What Do the Mixer Mobile Apps Do?

There were two official Mixer apps available for iOS and Android devices. Mixer app users viewed other streamers' broadcasts, commented on streams, initiated co-hosting from their own channels, and receive alerts when channels they followed went live.

The iOS and Android Mixer Create app was used for broadcasting content to the Mixer streaming service from a smartphone or tablet. Mixer Create users live-streamed video footage from a device's webcam or even broadcast mobile video games on the same device.

How Does Mixer Work on Xbox One Consoles?

People used the official Mixer app for Microsoft's family of Xbox One consoles to watch Mixer broadcasts, follow and subscribe to accounts. It was very similar to the YouTube or Amazon Video app. The Xbox One Mixer app also allowed for participation in a channel's chatroom.

Mixer's broadcasting functionality was actually integrated directly into the Xbox One's operating system so console owners could stream to Mixer from the Xbox One dashboard without using the app.

Was There a Windows 10 Mixer App?

There was not an official Mixer app for Windows 10 PCs. Like the Xbox One, Mixer broadcasting was built directly into the Windows 10 operating system, so users did not need to download an extra app for basic Mixer streaming.

For watching Mixer streams on a Windows 10 PC, users were encouraged to visit the Mixer game streaming website, Mixer.com in the Microsoft Edge web browser.

Was Mixer on Sony's PlayStation 4 Consoles?

Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4) family of consoles did not have built-in support for Mixer, nor did they have an official Mixer app. Users viewed broadcasts on PS4s by visiting the Mixer website via the console's web browser; however and video game streamers were able to broadcast their PlayStation gameplay to Mixer by using a capture card, a computer, and a copy of OBS Studio in the same way streaming to Twitch is done.

Mixer integration did not come to Sony's PlayStation consoles given that Microsoft owns both Mixer and Xbox, which are direct market rivals to Sony.

How Was Mixer Different Than Twitch?

Mixer offered a very similar streaming service to Twitch that functioned in an almost identical fashion. On Mixer and Twitch, streamers broadcast from an Xbox One console or via OBS Studio on a PC or Mac and were also allowed to stream a variety of content in addition to video game gameplay. There were four main differences between the two.

1. Mixer's Mixer Create mobile app allowed for the broadcasting of live video and mobile video games directly from a smartphone while the Twitch mobile app is restricted to just video broadcasting.

2. Twitch broadcasting is available on both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One family of consoles. Built-in Mixer streaming was only available on the Xbox One. Neither is possible on the Nintendo Switch.

3. Mixer did offer more interactivity with streams via special sound effect buttons that users could press while watching. It also boasted direct integration with some video games such as Minecraft, which allowed stream viewers to affect what happened in-game.

4. Mixer supported co-streaming, a feature that enabled several streamers to simultaneously broadcast gameplay from their own channels while displaying each other in a split-screen presentation on all of the involved channels. It was kind of like The Brady Bunch opening credits but with gamers.

Esports on Mixer

In addition to streaming live broadcasts of video game industry events, Mixer also streamed various esports events throughout the year and had exclusive broadcast rights to the Paladins Console Series esports tournaments.

Mixer also produced several esports-related shows which could be viewed on the streaming service and often broadcasts special gaming events from select Microsoft Stores.