Twitch is expanding the beta for Watch Parties to all U.S. Twitch partners, enabling people to watch Amazon Prime movies and television shows together, even though they’re physically apart.
Watch Parties enable Twitch creators and their viewers with active Prime memberships to watch a selection of popular movies and TV shows available on Prime Video, including Amazon Originals such Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Troop Zero, and Hunters, as well as third-party shows such as Star Trek and Survivor. It’s a way for people to gather while physically isolated because of the pandemic.
The streamers can stream these shows directly to their channel and their community. And now, with the addition of Picture-by-Picture format, viewers can see and hear their favorite streamers react to every funny, scary, or suspenseful scene together. Also, Subs and Bits have been enabled for Watch Parties, so viewers can subscribe or cheer during the Watch Party to show support like they normally would with gameplay streams.
The beta started last October with a small group of streamers testing an early version of Watch Parties on Twitch. The company has incorporated the feedback.
Amazon’s Twitch division said that, during this time of uncertainty, it knows how valuable shared experiences like Watch Parties are to the community. This is why it decided to open the beta to all Twitch Partners in the United States with an active Prime membership, the company said, and will make it available to all creators in the United States who are Amazon Prime members in the coming weeks.
Twitch said that Watch Parties is still a work in progress, but finalizing it is a priority for the team, and it is working closely with its Prime Video counterparts to make Watch Parties available to creators and viewers who are Amazon Prime members worldwide over the coming months. New U.S. and global creators will receive an email notification when Watch Parties has been added to their Creator Dashboard.
Twitch expects to expand and include the entire Prime Video on-demand catalog this year.