Twitch Announces New Features and Tweaks at TwitchCon

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twitchcon2015

Popular video game streaming service Twitch.tv held its first ever convention this weekend, September 25-26, 2015 in San Francisco California. The event brought popular streamers, the Twitch staff, and members of the community together under the same roof for the first time. Many of the talks are now available online, but perhaps the most important presentation at the event was Emmett Shear's Keynote Address. It outlined both the current state of the rapidly growing platform and what to look forward to next year. Here are some of the highlights:

  • Twitch App for PlayStation - Starting this fall, users can access Twitch across the full spectrum of PlayStation devices including PS4, PS3, and Vita.
  • New Whispering System - Expect a much better whispering (private messaging) system next month with Whispers 2.0. Whispers will have their own chat boxes so they don't get lost in Global Chat.
  • Video Playlists - In a move borrowed from YouTube, all users will soon be able to create playlists of their favorite past broadcasts and highlights.
  • Improved Video Experience - Customizable thumbnails for hightlights and previous broadcasts, and a full HTML5 video players -- good riddance Flash -- are on the way.

And perhaps the biggest change, Twitch will soon allow users to upload their existing videos directly to Twitch. This move is clearly an attack on YouTube which is increasingly trying to muscle into Twitch's turf. Twitch has managed to build a massive following in a few short years. What's more impressive, the average user stays on the site for an extended period each visit. If you happen to be one of those dedicated users, or just interested in an emerging gaming platform, check out the official blog post on the TwitchCon 2015 Keynote or Watch the full 45 minute talk on the official Twitch Channel.

 

 

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