The world of the internet is escalating at a fast pace. There are many new services such as e-commerce, social media, entertainment, etc.
Other booming industries, seeing a rapid rise, are competitive gaming, eSports, and live-streaming. There are many platforms, such as Twitch, YouTube, Periscope, Loco, etc., which provide these services.
Here’s everything you need to know about the differences between Twitch and Loco.
Key Takeaways
- Twitch is primarily a live streaming platform for gamers, whereas Loco is a game streaming and e-sports platform.
- Twitch has a larger global audience, while Loco is more prevalent in India.
- Loco includes features like quizzes and trivia, while Twitch focuses on streaming and community interactions.
Twitch vs Loco
The difference between Twitch and Loco is that Twitch has been in the business of live-streaming and competitive gaming since 2007, whereas Loco, which is an Indian platform, is comparatively newer to the game and is still establishing itself by reaching out to newer audiences.
Twitch started out originally as a live-streaming and gaming platform, which has been its essence from the beginning. It works on the basis of creators engaging their audience and building their community.
Due to this, creators come up with all kinds of content which they stream, and their target audience becomes a part of the community.
Loco started out as a trivia and quizzing platform. However, the app shifted gears and emerged as a live-streaming and gaming-based platform in May 2020.
Although it was facing strong competition from Twitch because of their similar services, Loco didn’t have any strong competitors in the Indian market. This gave them substantial growth in their beginning phase.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Twitch | Loco |
|---|---|---|
| Parent Company | Twitch is owned by Amazon which bought the company in 2014. | Loco is owned by a digital media company, known as Pocket Aces. |
| Services | Twitch’s services include live-streaming, gaming, lifestyle as well as other IRL content on the platform. | Loco’s services include single-player games as well live streams of gaming and tournaments. |
| Availability | It is available on a number of platforms such as Android, iOS, PlayStation 3 and 4, Amazon Fire T.V., etc. | It is only available on Android and iOS at the moment. |
| Audience Base | It has an audience and creator base from all over the world. | It serves the Indian audience engaging with famous Indian streamers. |
| Exclusiveness of Content | Creators on Twitch have to accept a ’24-hour exclusive’ policy for their content. | Loco allows its partner creators to work ‘non-exclusively’ on their platform. |
What is Twitch?
Twitch started out in 2007 with the name Justin TV. Its founders were Justin Kan, Emmett Shear, Michael Seibel, and Kyle Vogt. It was later acquired by Amazon in 2014.
Twitch is the biggest live-streaming platform in the world which, although it focuses on gaming, there’s much more to it than that.
It is a community-based platform where creators broadcast their content by live streaming, and interested audiences can watch them.
It has more than 140 million monthly users and is home to a number of famous creators. Apart from gaming, the creators indulge in a number of different activities such as making content out of lifestyle, music, Live chats, DIY, etc.
Through Twitch IRL, a lot of creators make real-life content, such as podcasts, debates, cooking shows, panel discussions, etc.
Twitch makes money from ads, sponsorships, and traffic on their platform, while the creators get their share income from viewership and paid subscriptions.
Subscriptions allow the members to watch their favourite creator’s content ad-free and also provide other advantages such as custom emotes and loyalty badges.
It also has a feature of using its own currency known as ‘Bits’ for micro-tipping the creators. Twitch also has its own yearly event called the ‘TwitchCon’, where they embrace this streaming culture as a community.
What is Loco?
India has seen rapid digitalization over the past few years. Due to affordable internet costs and its ever-increasing bandwidth in India, there has been a sudden growth of the internet population in the last few years.
This gave an impetus to the gaming, live-streaming, and esports sector as well. With an audience base and a relatively untapped Indian market, Loco decided to step into the arena.
The quiz-based platform transformed into a gaming and live-streaming platform in May 2020.
Loco is owned by a digital media tycoon, Pocket Aces which has an established market and knowledge of its audience. Loco’s main objective is to cater to the Indian youth audience and build a platform with the following features.
- Gaming live-streams
- Video on demand
- eSports competitions and tournaments
- Creator’s community with a relatively exclusive configuration.
Apart from this, Loco also features single-player gaming tournaments such as Ludo, Poker, and other arcade games.
Competitive gaming is a booming business worldwide, engaging a large audience throughout. Platforms such as YouTube and Twitch are monopolizing this market and interested audiences.
Loco also saw this opportunity to tie up collaborations with famous Indian streamers and teams such as ‘Fnatic’, ‘Red Bull’, etc., to engage the newer audience on the app.
Main Differences Between Twitch and Loco
- Twitch was acquired by Amazon in 2014. Loco is owned by a digital media house known as Pocket Aces.
- Twitch is a platform that encourages and attracts creators and audiences from all around the world. Loco is an India-based platform focusing on catering for the needs of the Indian audience.
- Twitch has a policy that binds the creator to make exclusive content for Twitch. Loco allows its partner streamers to continue creating content on other platforms.
- Twitch can be accessed on iOS and Android, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and 4, Amazon’s Fire TV, Google Chromecast, etc. Loco is just restricted to iOS and Android as of now.
- Twitch has a variety of content for the viewers apart from gaming. Loco’s primary focus is gaming and eSports and has no other type of content.
- https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2556288.2557048
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563216307208
Last Updated : 13 July, 2023
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
