Xbox One users will soon be able to live stream their games, join games with broadcasters, and save game footage to watch later using the vastly popular streaming service Twitch. Microsoft will release a patch for the console alongside the North American launch of Titanfall on March 11th that will allow users to live stream their Xbox One games for the first time.
Twitch CEO Emmett Shear said the new feature will be a "complete integration" into the console that will, In addition to allowing users to stream their games, let them join the party of a broadcaster playing an Xbox One title. Users will be able to broadcast using the Xbox One's Kinect camera, as they have been doing with the PlayStation 4's camera to occasionally negative outcomes. Previously, Xbox One owners were only able to watch Twitch streams through their console and upload recorded game footage.
Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi called the PS4's Twitch integration 'too limiting'
Specialist video game streaming site Twitch has grown incredibly quickly since its creation in 2011. The site now plays host to more than 1 million broadcasters every month, pushes more traffic across the internet that established mainstream giants such as Hulu and Amazon, and regularly contributes surreal memes and references to the wider web. Microsoft originally promised gamers would be able to stream their Xbox One games on the growing service when the console first launched last November, but the company backtracked prior to launch, saying that the feature wasn't yet ready.
PlayStation 4 users have been able to live stream their games using Twitch since that console's launch, but Xbox's Yusuf Mehdi called its competitor's feature "too limiting." Mehdi made sure to drive home the comparison between the PS4's Twitch capabilities — built by Sony themselves — and the Xbox One's, developed in partnership with Twitch. "Our fans really want the full next-gen service, so that's why we decided to take our time, do it right and have it come out in this fashion."