Skip to main content

Twitch is bringing karaoke, better moderation tools to its platform

Twitch is bringing karaoke, better moderation tools to its platform

/

And more ways for viewers to find new streamers

Share this story

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitch is partnering with Rock Band developer Harmonix to bring a new karaoke-style game to its platform called Twitch Sings. The game is specifically built for live-streaming, and it will allow viewers to request songs through chat.

The company announced the news today at TwitchCon during its keynote. Viewers will also be able to cheer to activate stage light shows or give streamers challenges, from hiding song lyrics to asking them to sing like a vampire. A release date has not yet been announced, though Twitch Sings is expected to go into closed beta later this year.

more than a million people are watching Twitch at any given moment

Twitch is also rolling out several new features later this year. New featured sections aim to help smaller streamers gather bigger audiences by highlighting up-and-coming creators, new partners and affiliates, or streamers local to the viewer in question. VIP badges, which were previously consecutive marks of how long a member was subscribed to a specific community, will now be cumulative. This will give subscribers a chance to take a break from the platform without losing their status.

The company also continues to improve its moderation tools. Following a tightening of policies earlier this year, the company is working to give moderators more access to pertinent user information. This includes how long a user has been on Twitch, chat messages in specific channels, and bans or timeouts they’ve received in the past. These updates are expected to be released in January 2019.

Twitch continues to grow in both its number of streamers and viewers. According to the company, more than a million people are watching Twitch at any given moment.