Popular live-streaming platform Twitch is giving creators a new way to engage with their most ardent fans. Subscriber Streams, broadcasts exclusive to channel subscribers, launched as a beta on June 26.

Twitch’s vice president of commerce Matt McCloskey penned a blog post about the news. "Creators often ask us for new and better ways to reward their viewers," he wrote. "VIP badges and custom Sub emotes are just a few examples. The next gadget we’re adding to their kit is Subscriber Streams."

McCloskey describes Subscriber Streams as "an exciting new way for streamers to offer another benefit to some of their biggest supporters–subscribers, VIPs, and Mods." GameSpot sister site CNET reports that viewers subscribed to a channel at any tier can see a streamer’s Subscriber Stream. Non-subscribers will only see a preview of the Subscriber Stream, but can immediately begin viewing by subscribing.

There are requirements to broadcasting a Subscriber Stream: you must be a Twitch Affiliate or Partner, you must broadcast a minimum of 90 unique days as an Affiliate or Partner, and you must fall in line with Twitch’s Community Guidelines and Terms of Service.

McCloskey believes Subscriber Streams will give creators more exciting ways to involve their fanbases, saying he could see "competitive streamers taking requests on heroes or champions to play, tabletop streamers running a weekly campaign for Subs, music streamers making all-request set lists, and a whole lot more."

United States senator and 2020 Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders now has a Twitch channel. We recommended a few games he should stream, including Hitman 2 and Persona 5.

Source: GameSpot