Twitch CEO Emmett Shear quits after 16 years

San Francisco, March 17

Video live-streaming platform Twitch CEO Emmett Shear has resigned with immediate effect after 16 years in the top role.

Dan Clancy, current Twitch President, will step fully into the role of CEO, effective immediately.

"He cares deeply about the Twitch community, its streamers, and our staff and understands what makes Twitch, Twitch," said Shear in a blog post late on Thursday.

He started on Twitch in October 2006. Sixteen years and four months later, "I've never set up direct deposit a second time".

Twitch Inc. became a fully-owned subsidiary of Amazon, and along the way "we have grown to more than 8 million streamers a month", said Shear.

"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," Shear wrote.

"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. I will continue to work at Twitch in an advisory role," he added.

Twitch recently rolled out new moderation and safety features to improve the platform.