Fans of live-steaming eSports (particularly of the League of Legends variety) rejoice! Microsoft and Twitch have teamed up to bring a dedicated Twitch app to Xbox Live. As of today, Xbox Live Gold subscribers in the U.S. will have access to a free download of the Twitch app, which provides live-streaming content now available through the console. No word yet on when/if the app will reach any region outside of America.
Twitch has grown to reach over 34 million unique viewers with more than 800,000 folks streaming content since the service initially debuted back at E3 2011, according to a statement made on Major Nelseon’s blog. In addition to debuting a new app, Twitch also announced they will be hosting an exclusive broadcast featuring Major Nelson immediately following next week’s Next Xbox (said to be officially called Xbox Infinity) reveal on May 21. Nelson will be moderating the event, which will presumably highlight and breakdown whatever new games and services are announced alongside the next-gen console’s reveal.
It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Twitch. The service single-handedly got me more involved in the Fighting Game Community and got me interested in the Let’s Play community of live-streamers, as opposed to watching pre-recorded footage on YouTube. What’s interesting here is how late in the game Microsoft has decided to partner with Twitch. I’ve said before that Microsoft will undoubtedly put as much if not more focus on social features as Sony come next generation, and even suggested that they may partner with Twitch to take the PS4’s sharing feature one step further. But now with this announcement, I fully expect the Next Xbox to be fully capable of live-streaming content via Twitch whenever gamers so desire, potentially turning every Next Xbox owner into the next great Let’s Play channel. This makes next week’s announcement all the more intriguing, so keep your eyes and ears peeled for any further partnerships made between the two.
Do you guys and gals plan on downloading the new Twitch app for Xbox 360? Would you like to see the two companies further their partnership by making the Next Xbox capable of live-streaming? Let us know in the usual place,and don’t forget to like IGXPro on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or give us the ‘ol +1 on Google+.
