Twitch has now activated a feature for Squad Streaming on its platform. This is supposed to help streamers, but there are issues.
What is this feature? On the live streaming platform TwitchTV, a feature for shared streaming, called Squad Stream, is now active:
- Up to 4 players can go live and stream together in one window.
- As a viewer, you see all streamers together in one window and can choose who you want to view in full screen.
To join a stream like this, simply go to the channel of a streamer. If they are in Squad Stream, a button “Watch in Squad Mode” will appear. Then you will see all streamers that have joined the squad simultaneously.
This is the idea behind it: The advantage is supposed to be that streamers can address a larger audience at the same time. The community of each individual streamer is supposed to grow as a result.
So it is designed as a feature that helps streamers grow.
What is the problem? The new feature was tested by 3 Twitch big names. Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, Ben “DrLupo” Lupo, and Tim “TimTheTatMan” Bertar. Together, the 3 streamers have over 20 million followers on TwitchTV, with 13 million alone for Ninja.
On March 28th, the 3 streamed together in Squad Mode, and Tim noted that there is an issue with the feature:
Because viewers who mute a channel in a Squad Stream no longer count as viewers for that stream.
In a Squad Stream, you have the option to adjust the volume of each individual streamer in this mode and also mute them. Even though you still see them, you are not counted as a viewer.
For the streamer, this is a major disadvantage, as their viewer count is distorted and lower.
What do the streamers say about it? Ninja seemed surprised by this statement: “Bro, I probably have 100,000 viewers a day. And everyone just mutes me.”
DrLupo notes in the clip that probably all streamers see an extreme increase in viewers at the start from their Squad Stream, but this would quickly drop again because viewers mute all but one streamer after a few seconds.
In fact, even the default settings have all but one stream muted. You need to manually turn up the volume if you want to hear more than one streamer at the same time.
This is mainly because otherwise the streamers talk over each other uncontrollably. Additionally, they are usually connected via Discord or other software for voice chat, so you can hear them all in one stream anyway.
Viewers then only hear one stream in Squad Mode, but can see the reactions of the other players in the small preview windows.
Now some streamers wish that viewers in Squad Mode should also be counted when streamers are muted.
