After the success of Twitch Plays Pokémon and its grueling Dark Souls follow-up, Twitch has lifted the lid on a new initiative called “Developer Success” – a program that encourages developers to implement a “Stream First” approach to game design.
Through its new program Twitch wants to help devs create Stream First titles by giving them the tools and assistance they need to embed Twitch functionality from the get-go.
According to Twitch, Stream First games should be designed from the ground up with the live streaming experience in mind, and will turn “traditional gameplay video streams into cooperative community experiences.”
“In the last few years, we have seen a great deal of creativity in online interaction methods from the Twitch community,” said Brooke Van Dusen, director of game developer success at Twitch.
“However, these systems have always been external to the games broadcasters are playing. Stream First games by nature embrace these developments and incorporate features inspired by these creative concepts of Twitch community interaction.”
The first wave of Stream First releases features card-battler, Superfight; turn-based strategy title, Wastelanders; and frentic arena-based game, Streamline.
Each release will feature ingrained Twitch functionalities. For example, in Schell Games’ Wastelanders, broadcasters take on the role of a warlord in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and must lead their viewers in a battle against another broacaster-led team.
By working together, viewers will be able to control warriors on the battlefield, plant mines, and set bounties, altering the action on the fly and potentially even turning the tide in their broadcaster’s favor.
Twitch’s current roster of Stream First titles are available to demo at GDC 2016, while the Developer Success team will also be taking part in a number of GDC presentations.
If you’re at GDC and wish to find out more, just pay a visit to South Hall Booth #1224
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