Over the weekend, TwitchCon San Diego commenced, and Twitch revealed several updates during the opening ceremony. CEO Dan Clancy announced that Twitch would provide streamers and viewers with more transparency regarding account suspensions.
Starting soon, Twitch will send users the chat excerpts that led to their suspensions via email and the appeals portal. This feature will eventually include clips, allowing streamers to understand which livestream or VOD content violated the platform’s policies. A blog post from Twitch stated, “We want to give you this information so that you can see what you did, what policies were violated, and if you feel our decision was incorrect, you can appeal.”
Twitch has acknowledged the issue of permanent strikes for minor infractions impacting long-time streamers. As a solution, the platform will introduce a strike expiration policy in early 2025. According to Twitch, “Low-severity strikes will no longer put streamers’ livelihoods at risk, but we’ll still enforce the rules for major violations. Plus, we’re adding more transparency by showing you exactly what led to a strike.”
In terms of viewing improvements, beginning next year, viewers of streamers using Twitch’s Enhanced Broadcasting feature will be able to watch streams in 2K resolution in select regions, with plans for a broader rollout in 2025. Additionally, Clancy mentioned that Twitch is working on supporting 4K streaming.
A new feature arriving in 2025 will allow Enhanced Broadcasting users to stream both vertical and landscape video simultaneously, designed to provide an optimal viewing experience on any device.
Twitch is also planning to enhance navigation in its updated mobile app, with features such as one-swipe access to Followed channels and improved audio prioritization from the picture-in-picture player. Streamers will gain access to a Clip Carousel feature, designed to showcase and share the best clips from their streams on both desktop and mobile platforms. Creating clips on mobile devices will also be simplified.
Furthermore, Twitch will introduce a shared chat option in the Stream Together feature next week. This will enable up to six creators to combine their chats, with moderators empowered to manage all messages within the shared chat and address any infractions. Streamers participating in a Stream Together session will have the option to disable Shared Chat for their own communities.
Lastly, Twitch plans to expand its Unity Guilds and Creator Clubs initiatives. Aimed at helping streamers build connections, share knowledge, and grow with support from Twitch staff, these programs have seen significant engagement. Currently, there are the Black Guild, Women’s Guild, and Hispanic and Latin Guild, with a recently announced Pride Guild for the LGBTQIA+ community. All four guilds will be accepting members globally next year.
Creator Clubs, introduced last month for DJ and IRL categories, have exceeded engagement expectations. Four additional Creator Clubs will soon launch, covering the Artists/Makers, Music, VTubers, and Coworking/Coding categories.
