Mixer is closing and Mixer partners will be moved to Facebook Gaming. This unexpected news was announced today, and the closure is only a month away: starting July 23, visitors to the Mixer stream will be redirected to Facebook Gaming.

The sudden closure of the streaming service is due to Mixer's inability to attract enough viewers to compete with Twitch and YouTube, according to Phil Spencer, head of Xbox. Spencer told The Verge, "Mixer's monthly active viewership started quite late compared to some of the big boys."

Partners like Shroud and Ninja left Twitch with exclusive streaming deals with Mixer, but according to a post on Mixer's blog, "Facebook Gaming partner status was granted and the platform will honor all existing partner agreements to be honored and matched as much as possible."

However, it appears that there are options for streaming elsewhere. The Verge reports that "Ninja, Shroud, and other top streamers are free to rejoin Twitch or stream on Facebook Gaming."

Ninja has yet to officially state his plans.

"Ultimately, the success of our partners and streamers on Mixer depends on our ability to expand the platform for them as quickly and broadly as possible. "It became clear that the vision and experience that Microsoft and Xbox wanted to deliver to gamers now was not balanced by the time needed to grow our own live streaming community, so we decided to close the operational side of Mixer and help the community transition to the new platform. We have decided to help.

As for Mixer viewers and subscribers:

"We encourage Mixer viewers to use their remaining embers and sparks to support their favorite Mixer partners and streamers. Support for Embers, Sparks, and channel subscriptions to Mixer Partners will be even greater for the remainder of the month, as Mixer Partners will receive double payouts on all earnings during the month of June," posted on the Mixer blog.

"Viewers with remaining Ember balances, channel subscriptions, or Mixer Pro subscriptions will receive Xbox gift card credits as a thank you for their engagement on the platform.

We will keep you posted as soon as we have more details.