Microsoft quietly removed Mixer from the Xbox One OS with the July 2020 Update that was released yesterday. In case you missed it, Microsoft’s game streaming service will shut down on July 22, and the various Mixer experiences had already been removed from the console in recent Xbox One Insider builds.
The official release notes for the Xbox One July 2020 Update only mentions “General stability and performance improvements,” with nothing specific about Mixer. Still, you’ll notice after updating that the Mixer app is gone from your console, and you won’t be able to start streaming games on Mixer from the Xbox Guide. If you want to keep streaming games from your Xbox One without an external capture card, the Twitch app that’s available to download from the Xbox Store is now the only way to go.
Mixer has been in a death spiral for quite some time, and the number of concurrent streamers and viewers has dropped significantly since Microsoft announced that its upcoming closure. The company made a deal with Facebook to allow Mixer Partners to get a partner status on Facebook Gaming, though it seems most Mixer streamers have been flocking to Twitch instead. That’s not surprising, as there’s still no easy way to stream on other platforms than Twitch on Xbox One consoles.
Last month, Xbox head Phil Spencer hinted that Xbox One gamers could soon get more options to stream games. “We absolutely want to give gamers choice of where to stream from Xbox.” As PlayStation 4 owners know, Twitch and YouTube streaming are natively integrated on Sony’s console, and it would be nice to see the Xbox One OS eventually follow that same route.
