Twitch is about to get a bunch of interactive features, some of which are tailored to specific games. The plans were laid out in a blog post yesterday, where it was announced that games such as Overwatch, Hearthstone, and League of Legends will be getting an interactive overlay. Other features, including an interactive pet and a poll creation tool, will also be present during the beta, which is due to start this week.
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While each feature is currently only being showcased by a handful of streamers, the intention is that, eventually, anyone and everyone will be able to use them. They won’t be mandatory, but the option to toggle them on or off will be given to the streamer, as opposed to individual viewers. Here is a list of what to expect:
- The Interactive Hearthstone Overlay will have an interactive deck overlay and card tooltips for players to check out.
- The MasterOverwatch Overlay provides an interactive profile and stat breakdown for Overwatch streamers.
- The Summoner Info Panel will be a summary of the streamer’s League of Legends summoners, with current runes and masteries, most played champions, and most recent ranked games on display.
- The Destiny Live Tracker Panel tracks the streamer’s gear and stats for the activity they are playing so viewers can easily see loadouts.
- The Rocket League Tracker Panel live tracks the streamer’s Rocket League skill ratings so viewers can follow progress during the stream.
- A Smart Click Map Overlay will be available, showing a “heatmap” of clicks, allowing viewers to suggest the streamer’s next move, card, or weapon by clicking directly on the video.
- The Kappa Pet Panel is a pet that lives in the channel page and can respond to viewers, evolve as the stream runs, and then go to sleep when the streamer is offline.
- Other overlays include one for polls, another for music streaming and several that are a combinations of some of the others.
You can expect to see these rolling out over the next few days. In the meantime, you can check out the Twitch blog for a list of streamers who are involved with the beta, as well as a handy FAQ.