 | |
Type of site | Streaming video service |
|---|---|
| Available in | English German Polish Russian Italian Portuguese Spanish French |
| Dissolved | May 9, 2017; 8 years ago (2017-05-09) succeeded bySmashcast |
| Successor | Smashcast |
| Owner | Azubu |
| URL | http://www.hitbox.tv/ |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | October 2013; 12 years ago (2013-10) |
| Current status | Merged withAzubu |
Hitbox was alive-streamingesports video game website launched in October 2013.[1] It was a competitor toTwitch.[2][3] It was acquired byAzubu, and then becameSmashcast.[4]
In November 2015SeedInvest, along withWargaming and North Base Media, funded Hitbox with investing $4,000,000USD.[5] CEO and co-founder Martin Klimscha was interviewed about Hitbox. He stated that their "goal at the moment is to build a superior live streaming platform", therefore taking onTwitch. He also stated that they wanted to improve the game streaming service by reducinglatency. He said that Hitbox was to be more than the "streamer and the chatbox", and would "build interactivity into this live streaming experience.[6]
Twitch's CEOEmmett Shear held anAsk me Anything (AMA) onReddit in which he mentioned that Twitch would be implementing "muting of archived streams playing music that was not licensed in previously recorded Video On Demand". He said that Twitch would be "scanning for 'ambient music' being played in the background by streamers".[3][7] Hitbox hoped to capitalize on this by not being as strict onvideo on demand.[7]
In April 2016, Hitbox signed a two-year contract with ESL gaming, Dreamhack, and Wargaming.[8] ESL and Wargaming only exclusively partnered with Twitch in the past. "Hitbox does offer revenue-share for non-partners and their service is slightly more South-African friendly."[9]
Hitbox partnered with broadcasting company Nav-TV inSouth America.
A third party has released an app for the company on theWindows App Store.[10] There is also an app forAndroid as well asIOS.
Hitbox planned to offer a 60FPS,4K resolution streaming service in late 2016. but this plan was canned with its merger and shutdown.
Hitbox had about 6 millionmonthly active users in its later months.[11] They transitioned into using anHTML video player instead of aFlash Video player.[12]
In November 2016, WarGaming, among other investors, invested 4 million US dollars into Hitbox.[13][14]
On January 10, 2017, Hitbox announced through their blog that they were being acquired byAzubu.[15]
On May 5, 2017, Hitbox shut down and their website was redirected toSmashcast, a newLive-stream service, which they claim is "spiced up with a new design & features and managed by a team consisting of Hitbox and Azubu staff".[16]
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