Twitch is rolling out a new feature called Squad Streams next year that lets multiple streamers come together to stream all at once.
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Unveiling the new feature during the TwitchCon events that are going on now, Twitch shared a quick how-to video explaining how the system works and what it’ll look like. Squad Streams aren’t planned to release until 2019, but when they do, viewers will be able to watch their favorite streamers play games together depending on what kinds of squads the streamers put together.
Go live on Twitch with up to three other streamers, all in a single view.
Squad Stream rolls out in 2019. pic.twitter.com/UIkbSmNIBI
— Twitch (@Twitch) October 26, 2018
Sticking to the typical number that “squads” are associated with in games, the Squad Stream feature supports up to four different streamers at one time in the same session. The video showed that for the many people who watch streams on mobile devices, they can watch the primary streamer they came for when the device is in a vertical orientation while flipping it horizontally will show all the participating streamers at once.
It’s a useful feature that’ll allow Twitch viewers to get multiple perspectives and personalities on one screen at any given time, but as others have pointed out, Twitch isn’t the first to come up with such an idea. Mixer, for example, has its own feature called “Co-streaming” that lets streamers do exactly as the name suggests and stream their gameplay together. By inviting different streamers, Mixer users can bring in up to three additional players and set up the layout of the screen however they see fit.
Co-Streaming on Mixer connects streamers that want to share content together, creating a unified experience for viewers by combining chat with an intuitive viewing layout! #Mixer101
More: //t.co/tVttW4gjdx pic.twitter.com/MmFv4ZWRrU
— Mixer (@WatchMixer) December 27, 2017
Aside from the Squad Stream announcement, TwitchCon has brought about more news for streamers and viewers alike. Twitch and Harmonix, the developers of Rock Band, have partnered with one another to create a livestreaming karaoke game called Twitch Sings. League of Legends players can also finally link up their Twitch Prime accounts to their League accounts with Legendary loot waiting for them for doing so, and Snapchat is even getting involved with Twitch thanks to a new program that adds the messaging app’s lenses to the PC platform.
More Twitch-related announcements are expected to be shared as TwitchCon 2018 goes on.
