Microsoft has decided to shut down its Mixer service right on July 22nd and collaborate with Facebook Gaming. This means that Mixer partners as well as streamers will be transferred to Facebook Gaming now and Mixer won't be present for gaming.

This decision comes after the report that Microsoft has failed to compete in a market that already has Youtube, Twitch and Facebook Gaming.
 

Source: The Verge

“We started pretty far behind, in terms of where Mixer’s monthly active viewers were compared to some of the big players out there,” says Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s head of gaming. “I think the Mixer community is really going to benefit from the broad audience that Facebook has through their properties, and the abilities to reach gamers in a very seamless way through the social platform Facebook has.”

From July 22nd, all the sites of Mixer and applications will automatically direct the users to Facebook Gaming. The partners that were operating with Mixer will be shifted to Facebook and players who were using the monetization program of Mixer will be earning eligibility for Facebook’s Level Up program. Mixer viewers with outstanding Ember balances, Mixer Pro subscriptions or channel subscriptions will receive Xbox gift card credit.

Source: The Verge

A lot of experts have appreciated the decision and called it wise because Microsoft is looking for a way to expand the appeal of its upcoming xCloud game streaming service. The tech company will closely work with Facebook to bring xCloud to Facebook Gaming to gain more users for the site.

Microsoft had to choose between cutting Mixer off, selling it off, or even investing more money without having a guarantee that it would attract users. “It wasn’t as much about return on sell, it was about finding a partnership that was the best things for the community and streamers,” explains Spencer. “We think this is it, and it gives us a great place to launch more xCloud content and give gamers the ability to play from there.”

With xCloud streaming, Microsoft is aiming for two billion gamers but Mixer is not popular enough to support the new service. “When we think about xCloud and the opportunity to unlock gameplay for 2 billion players, we know it’s gonna be critically important that our services find large audiences and Facebook clearly gives us that opportunity,” says Spencer.

Talking about the partnership with Facebook, Spencer said, “The teams are physically actually close to each other, we’ve been to each other’s offices. You’ll see us continuing to grow this relationship... This will be the beginning of us seeing future opportunities together. I think we have a lot of alignment between the organizations on areas where the industry is going and how we can help each other.”