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StarCraft 2 is kind of why Twitch exists (and also is 7 years old this week)

StarCraft 2 gave us one of the mainstays of modern Internet culture. Huh.

StarCraft 2 is seven years old this week, which may make some of you rapidly recalculate your age and rush off to find a paper bag to scream into.

Blizzard, on the other hand, seems quite pleased by this evidence of inevitable entropy and celebrated by highlighting seven anecdotes related to the strategy sequel on the StarCraft 2 blog.

One of these comes from Twitch CEO and co-founder Emmett Shear, and credits StarCraft 2 as the reason the streaming service exists.

"In 2009, I had been waiting for over a decade, along with every other Brood War fan, for StarCraft 2. When the beta was finally released, a lot of people started streaming it on Justin.tv and I got hooked watching," Shear said.

"Since we were trying to figure out what the next move for Justin.tv was, I began wondering if it would be possible to just focus on gaming content. That's how StarCraft 2 was the first impetus for Twitch.”

Well, ain't that a thing. What other similar secrets could gaming be hiding from us?

I was going to make some jokes about, like, Mass Effect 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 launching various manifestations of gaming culture, but after staring at my monitor in blank silence for five minutes I concede that Twitch is the only thing I can remember from the last seven years, probably because I am so ancient my memory is going.

Please make your own jokes while I have an existential breakdown in the stationary cupboard.

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StarCraft

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StarCraft II: Wings Of Liberty

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About the Author
Brenna Hillier avatar

Brenna Hillier

Contributor

Based in Australia and having come from a lengthy career in the Aussie games media, Brenna worked as VG247's remote Deputy Editor for several years, covering news and events from the other side of the planet to the rest of the team. After leaving VG247, Brenna retired from games media and crossed over to development, working as a writer on several video games.

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