Category Archives: News

Video On Demand Comes To Mobile!

You’ve been asking for it, we’ve been working on it, and it’s finally here: VODs on mobile! You will now be able to watch highlights and past broadcasts from all Twitch Partners and a growing number of broadcasters whose videos are HLS enabled.

Available VODs are found on a channel’s Activity Feed. There are two ways to get there:

  • If you’re watching a live channel, tap the Activity Feed icon located on the player. For iOS this is on the top left of the player, and for Android it’s on the bottom left.
  • If you’re on the Search page or Following directory, tapping any offline channel will also take you directly to the Activity Feed.

A note for our Android users

With this release, we’ve made some changes to our Android app to address a possible security vulnerability.  The change requires you to download and install a completely new app rather than update the old one. We know this isn’t ideal, and we’ll do our best to make it a one-time deal.

To get our new v4.0 app, visit g.co.play/twitchapp. After you’ve installed the new app, make sure you delete the old one (v3.2.3) from your device, as we will no longer support it starting May 20th, 2015. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

EDIT:  To use our new v.4.0 app, you will also need to be on Android 4.1+.  For users who are on lower versions of Android, please do not delete the app.  Note: v3.2.3 will not contain VODs.

The post Video On Demand Comes To Mobile! appeared first on The Official Twitch Blog.

Twitch Streamer Loses $5,000 on 1 Hand in Blackjack, Goes Absolutely Nuts

Twitch streamer Chance “Sodapoppin” Morris brought us our latest meltdown when he played online blackjack Friday on a betting site with live dealers. As 40,000 people watched the stream, Sodapoppin placed a maximum $5,000 bet on his last hand.

Morris drew an ace as his first card, but his second card, a five, gave him either a six or 16. He hit and received a jack, putting him at a hard 16. With the dealer showing a six, Morris declined to hit again.

The dealer drew a second six, which meant only a face card would save Morris. Unfortunately, the dealer drew a third six, causing Morris to throw off his headphones and go absolutely nuts. He started throwing things and even ran into a wall while dropping F-bombs left and right.

Warning: This video contains NSFW language.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLt8ezXvJpM

Every gambler knows the feeling, but it’s always fun to watch—as long as it’s not happening to you, that is.

[YouTube, h/t For The Win]

New feature on Twitch reduces stream delay by one third

A new change coming to Twitch will pull streams closer to the present than ever before.

Enabling a new feature will reduce stream delay on the service by 33 percent on average, the streaming service announced today. To take advantage of the change, streamers need do no more than toggle a switch prior to going live in order to enable the delay reduction.

Reduced Stream Delay

 Twitch accomplished this by reducing the amount of video “stored in the processing pipeline” after video segments were cut from four seconds in length to two, thus cutting the reduction in delay between broadcaster and audience by about one third.

Georgia Price, Twitch’s product marketing manager, said the change was made in an effort to better serve the platform’s users.

“Based on community feedback, one of the major projects we have been working on over the last year is significantly reducing stream delay,” Price said.

That reduction will allow viewers of live events and matches to keep themselves that much closer to real-time results. But the change will likely be felt the most among broadcasters who lean heavily on viewer interaction.

Steaming on Twitch has become a career path for a variety of gamers, from speedrunners who burn through popular titles as quickly as possible to those who simply look to show off the latest big studio releases. And for most, interacting with viewers through Twitch chat is hugely important. It helps establish a sense of community, and motivates users to subscribe to channels and even donate to streamers whose efforts they wish to support.

Stream delays have made conversations between streamers and chat users difficult in the past. And while this won’t act as an instant cure for that difficulty, it will reduce delay and make things feel a little more dynamic.

So take heart, Twitch users: Through the glory of technological innovation, your favorite streamers will now be exposed to your kappa spam 33 percent faster.

Originally posted on DailyDot

Survivor GameZ VI – Live April 19th!

Survivor GameZ VI is upon us and the main event is this Sunday, April 19th, at 1pm PDT/4pm EDT/9pm BST!

The Survivor GameZ is the baddest deathmatch event around, fully realized in the post-apocalyptic landscape of DayZ. While zombies abound and supplies are limited, real life friendships crumble as players stalk each other until only one is standing (or maybe bleeding out slower than everyone else). Hunt or be hunted: this is the most dangerous game!

Continue reading Survivor GameZ VI – Live April 19th!

Xbox caters to Twitch streamers with upcoming Windows 10 app

Microsoft has big plans to bring gaming on Windows 10 and Xbox One closer together. One key to that strategy is the Xbox app the company announced back in January, which lets you access Xbox Live features from your PC. And after checking out a demo of the app at GDC in San Francisco, one thing is pretty clear: Microsoft is trying to tap into the booming market of Twitch game streamers and YouTube personalities.

“IT’S OUR ASPIRATION TO MAKE EVERY GAME BETTER ON WINDOWS 10.”

Your Xbox One already lets you record gameplay footage and share it on multiple services, but when you bring that concept to your PC the functionality opens up quite a bit. Using the Xbox app on Windows 10, you can browse all of the clips you recorded on your console, and even edit them using some rudimentary tools to trim the length. But the app goes one step further by letting you download those clips, and then cut and mix them however you want using any video editor already on your PC. You can then upload them to the social network of your choice; and if you’re someone who wants to share their Sunset Overdrive exploits on YouTube, it’s a pretty ideal set-up.

Of course, the same also goes for Windows 10 games, which you can record simply by using the Windows + G command. During the demo the process seemed very streamlined. Developers don’t need to do anything to bring this functionality to their games; even titles you purchased through services like Steam will work the same as games you buy through the Windows Store. “It’s our aspiration to make every game better on Windows 10,” says Microsoft’s Richard Irving.

Given the booming popularity of gaming personalities on YouTube and Twitch, it seems like an obvious move for Microsoft, and the new app will even recommend popular broadcasters for your favorite games as new Xbox Live friends. It lets you do other things, like message friends and check out achievements, but so far the recording functionality seems like the most impressive and important piece. The Xbox app will be available to Windows 10 users later this year, and it’s just one part of a much bigger theme that was outlined by Xbox head Phil Spencer during a talk earlier at GDC: Microsoft wants to bring gaming back to Windows in a big way.

“We want this to be the best version of Windows ever for gamers and game developers,” Spencer said.