Over the weekend we attended TwitchCon in San Diego, and while we were there Twitch made a few announcements. Among them were new features, and a new service for Amazon Prime users on Twitch. More information below courtesy of their press releases.

Amazon Prime ‘Levels Up’: Introducing Twitch Prime

 

Prime members get exclusive discounts on new games, free digital games and in-game loot, plus a premium experience on Twitch—the world’s leading social platform and community for gamers

 

SAN FRANCISCO – September 30, 2016 – Today, Amazon and Twitch announced Twitch Prime, a new set of Amazon Prime benefits created for gamers. Prime members get exclusive discounts on pre-order and new release games, a rotating selection of free digital games and in-game loot, plus a premium experience on Twitch that includes a free monthly Twitch channel subscription. Twitch Prime now joins the growing list of all-you-can-eat benefits for Amazon Prime members, including guaranteed unlimited fast, free Prime shipping, unlimited access to Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Photos, early access to Lightning Deals, and more. Gamers and Twitch fans can get all the benefits of Twitch Prime by starting a free 30-day trial, while Amazon Prime members can unlock their Twitch Prime benefits by linking their Prime accounts to Twitch at www.twitchprime.com.

 

“Twitch Prime is one of those unique cases where we have an opportunity to build a product that is equally great for all of our customers—streamers, viewers, and game developers,” said Emmett Shear, CEO of Twitch. “Offering subscriptions free through Prime saves money for viewers, while supporting streamers to build their community. Free games and in-game content are always a hit with gamers, but they also let developers reach millions of new potential players. When Amazon acquired Twitch, the first thing the community asked was, ‘when will Twitch be bundled in with Amazon Prime?’ Twitch Prime answers that question in a way that speaks to our community.”

 

Member Benefits:

 

• Free Digital Games and Game Loot: Twitch Prime members will receive a consistently updated selection of free digital video games and in-game loot like skins, characters, and boosts from the most popular games on Twitch. Startingtoday and until November 6, the newest hero in Hearthstone from Blizzard Entertainment, Tyrande Whisperwind, and an accompanying custom card back, will be available only for Twitch Prime members to claim and keep. Additionally, in October, members will get an exclusive Twitch Prime branded skin for Hi-Rez Studios’ action MOBA, SMITE; and a free copy of Streamline, a new game built for Twitch by Proletariat Studios.
• Premium Twitch + Monthly Twitch Channel Subscription: Twitch Prime builds on the benefits of Twitch Turbo, Twitch’s original monthly subscription program, including ad-free Twitch viewing, custom emotes, special chat badges, and expanded chat colors. Plus, members receive one free Twitch channel subscription each month, normally $4.99 (equivalent to $59.88/year), to support their favorite streamer. When Twitch Prime members use these free channel subscriptions, the streamer is paid the same as if the member purchased the subscription separately.
• Member Savings on New Release Games: Prime members receive exclusive discounts on new-release physical games sold by Amazon during the pre-order period and for the first two weeks after launch. Members also enjoy free Release Day Delivery on pre-order games, ensuring they get to play the latest games, likeGears of War 4 and Battlefield 1, immediately at launch, without waiting in line.

 

To celebrate the launch of Twitch Prime, Twitch has partnered with the GameChanger Charity, an independent non-profit that raises money and creates life-changing experiences for children with terminal illnesses. Between Friday, Sept. 30 and Wednesday, Oct. 5, Twitch will donate $100,000 to the GameChanger Charity for every 100,000 channel subscriptions made by Twitch viewers (up to $1 million total). All subscriptions count, including those using the free channel subscription that comes with Twitch Prime.

 

Twitch Prime is available to all Amazon Prime members in the United States, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, including Prime Student members. For more information and to get started, visit www.twitchprime.com.

TwitchCon 2016 Keynote Unveils New Features and Product Offerings

Twitch announces Twitch Prime, video uploading, expanded video quality options, new Clipping features, loyalty badges, and its first Curse product integration

SAN FRANCISCO – September 30, 2016 – Twitch, the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers, kicked off TwitchCon 2016 today with a keynote from CEO Emmett Shear, and Director of Programming, Marcus “djWHEAT” Graham. The keynote spotlighted Twitch Prime, new video quality options, the ability to upload videos, loyalty badges for subscriptions, updates to Clipping, Curse Voice with Twitch integration, and HTML5 for everyone, among other insights about the brand.

Keynote Announcements

●      Twitch Prime: Twitch Prime is a new set of Amazon Prime benefits created for gamers. It features exclusive discounts on pre-order and new release games, a rotating selection of free digital games and in-game loot, plus a premium experience on Twitch that includes a free monthly Twitch channel subscription. Twitch Prime now joins the growing list of all-you-can-eat benefits for Prime members, including guaranteed unlimited fast, free Prime shipping, unlimited access to Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Photos, early access to Lightning Deals, and more. Gamers and Twitch fans can get all the benefits of Twitch Prime by starting a Prime free 30-day trial, while Prime members can unlock their Twitch Prime benefits by linking their Prime accounts to Twitch at www.twitchprime.com.

●      Uploads: Any user can upload videos to Twitch for anyone to watch. Streamers may also download past streams and use the footage to create and upload on demand videos for their viewers to watch whenever they want.

●      Clips on mobile: Viewers on iOS and Android can create and share clips from live streams and videos directly within the Twitch app.

●      Transcodes: Video quality options will begin rolling out to even more streamers so viewers with all levels of Internet speeds can view streams seamlessly. Video quality options will be automatically applied based on a channel’s expected viewership.

●      Curse Voice and Twitch integration: Users of Curse Voice and Twitch may link their accounts to access all global and non-global emotes from Twitch on Curse Voice. As an added bonus, Curse Voice users will also get a Twitch-themed color customization option on the client.

●      HTML5: HTML5 is now available to ALL Twitch users.

Coming in October 2016:

●      Clip trimming: Allows viewers to more accurately capture the perfect moment by adjusting the start and end time of their clip.

●      Loyalty subscription badges: Viewers can soon show the extent of their loyalty to a Partner and Partners will be able to reward subscribers accordingly with custom chat badges based on length of a subscription. Badge tiers for one, three, six, 12, and 24 month subscriptions will be available to Partners for design.

For more information on Twitch and TwitchCon 2016, visit: Twitch, TwitchCon 2016,Blog, Facebook, @Twitch, and @TwitchCon.