Microsoft's Mixer Lets You Buy Games Directly From a Stream

Microsoft is still trying to find a way forward for Mixer, its streaming platform and hopeful Twitch competitor. Today, Microsoft announced the launch of Mixer Direct Purchase. When activated, the service lets viewers buy a game or downloadable content directly from the stream they're watching.

"We consistently hear from gamers that what motivates new game purchases are streamers' content and recommendations. For many of us, watching a game stream is the best way to discover new games to enjoy or just to see what an older game is all about for the first time. Streamers often recommend games and DLC to their audiences, and we support rewarding them for purchases made based on their recommendation and gameplay," said Xbox Product Marketing Manager Ben Favreau.

There are caveats though. Mixer is all about keeping everything in-house, so the Mixer Direct Purchase feature only works with Xbox or Windows 10 Store purchases. If you're hoping to buy a game through Steam or Amazon, you're out of luck.

The streamer in question also has to activate Mixer Direct Purchase, but there are benefits to doing so: the streamer makes 5 percent for every purchase though the system. Streamers have a host of options, like being able to set which edition of a game viewers can purchase or pointing them towards specific downloadable content. The new feature is clearly aimed at making Mixer a more lucrative platform for streamers.

Twitch introduced something similar last year, though that's in direct partnership with developers and publishers. As such, the list of games is limited. In the case of major publishers like Ubisoft, games are only available through proprietary services like Uplay. It'll be interesting to see if Microsoft's method, which is open to any game available on the Xbox or Windows 10 Store, works out better for streamers.