Deeper Twitch Integration Finally Comes to Xbox One on March 11


In the months leading to the Xbox One’s launch, one of the console’s most talked-up features was its Twitch integration. Unfortunately, the Twitch app at launch was lacking; it only allowed gamers to watch video from players on other platforms (like the PlayStation 4) because streaming from the Xbox One wasn’t ready.

On March 11, Xbox One owners will finally get the Twitch experience they were promised, and then some.

Twitch CEO Emmett Shear told the AP today that Twitch on the Xbox One offers “complete integration,” and when compared to the PlayStation 4’s Twitch features, the Xbox One goes quite a bit deeper.

You’ll be able to stream your gameplay to the masses just like you can on the PlayStation 4, of course. But when you’re watching another player, you’ll have additional options available to you that you won’t find on other platforms, like being able to join the broadcaster’s party. You’ll also be able to use Kinect voice commands to begin broadcasting via Twitch.

“It’s exciting because we’ve never had the ability to broadcast from a console like this with such a deep level of integration,” said Shear. “The concept of being able to join a broadcasters’ party is really cool, and it’s another step in the direction of interacting more closely with broadcasters.”

The Twitch update will arrive on the same date Titanfall is released for the Xbox One. Early in March, Microsoft will also begin rolling out an Xbox One system update that improves the multiplayer and party systems, and also makes getting to your Xbox Live friends list a much faster process.

The Xbox One may be getting all these fancier Twitch features before the PlayStation 4, but don’t brag yet, fanboys; Sony was behind the first version of Twitch integration for the PS4, and Twitch hopes to bring the same features to Sony’s next-gen console sometime in the near future.

So, what do you think of the coming Twitch integration on the Xbox One? Will you be streaming live video of your epic mech battles in Titanfall? Leave us your thoughts below.