Perhaps one of the most anticipated features regarding the next generation of home consoles is the ability to instantaneously share your gameplay. And today, Sony made the announcement that the popular streaming service Twitch will join Ustream as part of the PlayStation 4’s online ecosystem; providing players with another digital avenue to broadcast their gaming content. In a statement, co-founder and CEO of the company Emmett Shear had this to say about today’s news:
“We’ve been clear with all our partners that we love gaming and the gaming industry, and we think our reason for being as a company is to be the ubiquitous platform. For us, it was really important to be able to work with every platform because Twitch is something that every gamer should have access to.”
Most notably, the feature bears a similarity with other services such as Netflix and Hulu in that it will not require a PlayStation Plus subscription to use. Accessed via the Dualshock 4’s ‘Share’ button, players will have the ability to upload and share footage to Twitch’s servers, which attract more than 38 million page views per month.
Initially part of Justin.tv in 2011, Twitch has grow exponentially since it focused on the video game medium, and the platform is favoured by eSports fans to tune in to industry events orbiting around the likes of League of Legends and Dota 2. With that said, considering that the service will become accessible via the Xbox One when it launches as well, this is a clear sign that the streaming service views the next-gen consoles as a promising online podium – particularly with their internal DVR functionality.
With both of these services now confirmed for PlayStation 4, it’s evident that a new era of gaming spectatorship is looming on the horizon. But do you consider that an exciting prospect? Would you be open to using services like Twitch more now that they are integrated into the next-gen consoles? Let us know what you make of this below.