Improving the Offline Experience for Viewers and Streamers

Every day, millions of people come to Twitch to watch and find new channels. To help streamers be more discoverable, and to provide viewers with better recommendations, we’ve been working on tools like tags that help connect people.

We know that people hear about new channels from sources all over the web, which means that sometimes when they arrive the streamer isn’t online or hosting. Starting today, we’re testing new ways to improve the experience viewers have when they stop by a channel and the streamer isn’t live. We want to help introduce new viewers to the channels they find and make channel pages work smarter for streamers.

The first set of tests we’ll be launching are intended to let viewers know that the streamer is offline, provide viewers with information about the channel and types of content they’ll find, and encourage them to view VOD content they might enjoy, like a past broadcast or Highlight.

Our plan is to test and adjust to ensure that we’re making changes that work for every channel on Twitch as we continue to invest in new ways to improve discovery and support streamers in growing their channel.

We hope that these new features aid in streamers’ growth and we look forward to getting everyone’s feedback as we continue to test these ideas. If you have ideas for us, please tell us here.