Today, Twitch announced Developer Success a new effort aimed at support Twitch Developers and emerging Stream First approach to game design. To highlight this brand initiative, several games are being showcased at the 2016 Game Developers Conference.
Developer Success is geared toward assisting developers interested in leveraging Twitch for their products and providing the proper tools and guidance for implementation. This includes the creation of new services for app partners, such as the Twitch Embed API, and support for studios developing Stream First games.
Stream First games are designed from the ground up for the live streamed experience. By enabling broadcasters and their audiences to play together in innovative ways, it turns traditional gameplay video streams into cooperative community experiences. SUPERFIGHT, Wastelanders and Streamline – the inaugural Stream First games developed in close partnership with Twitch are available for demo at the Twitch section of Amazon’s Game Developers Conference booth at GDC 16′ (South Hall #1224).
Watch the VOD of the announcement here
The first Stream First Game demos available at GDC are:
- SUPERFIGHT – Published by 505 Games, Developed by Pipeworks
SUPERFIGHT is a game of absurd arguments. Players battle with their wits to determine who would win hypothetical fights between characters with superpowers and super problems. Create ridiculous fighters from the cards you draw, argue with one another over who would win in a fight, then let the audience decide the winner. SUPERFIGHT features innovative technology built from the ground up to enable cutting-edge Twitch integration and bring players an unparalleled community experience with four-way live video, integrated Twitch streaming, and voting within Twitch chat. Sign-up today at SuperfightLive.com to receive the latest news on the game, access to the beta, and a free deck at launch.
- Wastelanders – Published and Developed by Schell Games
Wastelanders is a turn-based strategy game built for Twitch, where both broadcasters and viewers play in a live stream. Broadcasters take on the role of a Warlord in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and lead their viewers in battle against another broadcaster-led team. By watching the stream and chatting, viewers can control warriors on the battlefield, set bounties on opposition Warriors, place land mines, and alter the battle in other fun and surprising ways. With Wastelanders, broadcasters have a new way to interact with their followers as viewers become players on their team. Broadcasters can reward their most loyal followers and subscribers with more chances to play and gain game experience. Wastelanders is in the very early stages of development at Schell Games, led by veteran game designer Jesse Schell, and located across the river from beautiful downtown Pittsburgh.
- Streamline – Published and Developed by Proletariat
Streamline is a fast-paced, arena-based game that allows a broadcaster to quickly create a party for up to 15 of their viewers and immediately jump into one of several game modes, such as a fast-paced game of cat and mouse, with the broadcaster as a Hunter chasing down the other players as Runners or a stream versus stream team game pitting the broadcasters and their communities against one another. Meanwhile, the other Viewers can bet on or sponsor Runners, vote to change the rules of the game, and play mini-games driven by the on-stream action for rewards and recognition using a web browser or a mobile device. This unique second screen experience allows the broadcaster and viewers to interact in a natural and lag-free way and keep the channel conversation flowing without being interrupted by “chat commands”.
Members of Twitch’s Developer Success team will also be taking part in the following GDC presentations:
When: Tuesday, March 15 from 1:20 pm – 2:20 pm PDT
Where: Room 2000, West Hall, Moscone Center
Overview: Join Brooke Van Dusen, Director of Game Developer Success, as he shows game developers how to build a game for a live video and chat community. Brooke will go beyond creating a game for broadcasting and into specific ways broadcasters are already integrating game systems into their communities, and how developers are taking cues when designing their own games.
8 Ways to Succeed with Broadcasters (The Data May Surprise You!)
When: Friday, March 18 from 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm PDT
Where: Room 305, West Hall, Moscone Center
Overview: Join Kathy Astromoff, Vice President of Developer Success, as she demonstrates how game creators can incorporate broadcasters and their audiences into their game design, discovery, and monetization strategies. Kathy will present case studies with data that will reveal best practices on designing the broadcaster-audience relationship into games.
