It was a really long step.
The purple logo for Twitch on a white background.

Emmett Shear, the founder and CEO of Twitch is stepping down from his position after 16 years with the streaming focused company. He will be replaced by president Dan Clancy effective immediately.

Shear founded Twitch back in October of 2006. The site itself began as a reality focused streaming platform named Justin.tv, named after another co-founder, Justin Kan. Justin.tv was made to document Kan's life. In 2013, Shear eventually transformed Justin.tv into Twitch as he believed that continuing a 24/7 reality series focusing on just one person wasn't the best idea.

Twitch was born and ever since offered a place streamers of all types a place to broadcast to others. The main, new focus was obviously on streaming games and gameplay to audiences. In more recent years, a shift back to reality streams has gained some momentum within the ever growing Twitch community. Twitch pulls in millions of visitors and viewers per day, with significant increases happening when major events are taking place.

Shear announced his departure in a Twitter thread and shares a bit of why he made the choice to step down as CEO. In short, Shear says that he wants to be around more for his newborn son.

"With my first child just born, I've been reflecting on my future with Twitch. Twitch often feels to me like a child I've been raising as well. And while I will always want to be there if Twitch needs me, at 16 years old it feels to me Twitch is ready to move out of the house and venture alone. So it is with great poignancy that I share my decision to resign from Twitch as CEO. I want to be fully there for my son as he enters this world and I feel ready for this change to tackle new challenges."(...)

"Twitch has been like my family, the place I've spent more of my waking hours than anywhere else. With the arrival of my son, the time has come for me to focus my energies on building that tiny little startup family, and I'm ready to dedicate my energies there. Twitch will always remain part of my extended family, a community where I grew in so many ways alongside Twitch itself."
Shear says that he will continue working at Twitch but only in an advisory role.