In light of TwitchCon Las Vegas next week, Twitch has rolled out a new stories tool to its mobile app. It will work similarly to the same-name feature on other platforms like Instagram, allowing streamers to post photos, text messages, and clips that expire after 48 hours.
“By building stories into the Twitch experience, we’ve made it easier for you to reach your community directly on Twitch,” reads the announcement post on Twitch’s blog. “Access to eligible streamers will roll out gradually by the end of the week and on an ongoing basis as streamers meet the minimum eligibility requirements.”
“Viewers will see your stories live alongside stories created by other streamers they follow, so post regularly throughout the week to keep your community in-the-know and up-to-date between your streams,” it adds.
At launch, only partners and affiliates with at least one stream from the last 30 days will be able to create Twitch stories. These stories can, however, be viewed by all of their followers at the top of the Following page. While there are plans to extend the feature to more users, no concrete release date or details were announced.
According to the company’s senior product manager Eduardo Fenili, stories will make it easier for streamers to connect with their audience. Apart from offering analytics for the feature, Twitch also lets creators with 30 subscribers or more create subscriber-only stories. Whenever a story is posted, the mobile app will push alerts to followers, who can control the frequency via notification settings.
The introduction of stories doesn’t come as a surprise, especially with the continuous need to preserve audience engagement. It’s now available on the mobile app, launching three days before TwitchCon kicks off on 20 October. The event ends its run on 22 October.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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