During the recently concluded TwitchCon event in Las Vegas, Twitch unveiled its plans to permit streamers to simultaneously broadcast their content on various live streaming platforms, such as Kick, YouTube, and Facebook. The live-streaming platform, which is owned by Amazon, also outlined some guidelines for this new feature, emphasizing that users can simulcast as long as it doesn’t compromise the quality of the user experience on Twitch. Additionally, the company stated that streamers, unless bound by an exclusivity agreement with the platform, will have the freedom to live stream on other websites. However, it’s important to note that directing viewers to third-party websites or including external links is not allowed.
‘Guest Star’ feature to ‘Stream Together’
Twitch has relaxed some of its previous restrictions on cross-platform streaming earlier this year, allowing users to share live content on popular social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Furthermore, Twitch renamed the forthcoming ‘Guest Star’ feature to ‘Stream Together,’ simplifying collaboration for up to six streamers during live broadcasts. To cater to users who prefer audio-only interactions, Twitch has introduced an audio-only mode, enabling guests to join the chat without the need to activate their cameras.
Twitch, the world’s largest live-streaming platform with millions of daily active users, recently hosted its annual TwitchCon event in Las Vegas on October 20. During the opening ceremony, CEO Dan Clancy made several significant announcements.
One of the most noteworthy revelations was that content creators are now permitted to livestream simultaneously on multiple platforms. As the ceremony concluded, Clancy revealed another substantial change with a new policy update regarding the use of embedded streams. Twitch is taking steps to address the misuse of embedded streams.
Implementing a policy that prohibits the automatic playback of embedded streams
Dan Clancy explained that a small number of websites have been utilizing embedded streams in ways that were not originally intended by Twitch. Consequently, Twitch will soon implement a policy that prohibits the automatic playback of embedded streams that are not a central part of a website’s content. Clancy emphasized the importance of Twitch embeds for streamers and third-party websites to distribute Twitch content, but he acknowledged that a very limited number of sites have been using embeds in ways contrary to Twitch’s intentions. To address this, Twitch will begin disabling autoplay for non-compliant embedded streams starting from November 15, following the rollout of the policy update on November 1.
The issue of embedded stream misuse gained attention when popular streamer Ludwig raised concerns in 2021. He called out a gaming website called ‘Fextralife’ for allegedly “stealing views” by embedding his Twitch stream on their site, resulting in a significant increase in their viewer count.
