WIRED

Livestreaming platform Twitch is setting its sights beyond gaming and onto a beloved IRL pastime: karaoke. The company announced its first-ever branded video game as a developer this weekend at its annual TwitchCon conference, which was held in Europe for the first time this year.

Twitch Sings is the platform’s equivalent of karaoke, and shows a step change in the way the site presents itself to the public. In the game, players sing into a microphone while streaming to a live audience, who can offer encouragement via a live text comments section and by using Twitch’s iconic emotes – meme-like photographs turned into emoji, which often pepper the site’s comment streams.


It’s an idea reminiscent of previous karaoke-gaming releases such as SingStar or Rock Band, but it signals a potential new focus for the site, away from hardcore gaming and towards a more casual streaming userbase. In this sense, it could well be the platform’s Nintendo Wii moment.

The Wii’s release in 2006, along with its games and Wiimote control system, found Nintendo fans in non-traditional gamers. Twitch Sings could provide the same opportunity for the livestreaming site, bringing in people who wouldn’t ordinarily have an interest in games or in watching others play them. Twitch has built up a rabid fanbase of hardcore gamers who watch players stream the likes of Fortnite, League of Legends and Grand Theft Auto, but has struggled to gain traction outside its core audience.

Read next PS5 v Xbox Series X: which has the best features, games and price? PS5 v Xbox Series X: which has the best features, games and price?

It wasn’t always so gaming-focused. Initially a “lifestreaming” site called Justin.tv, where people would talk about their everyday lives on camera, Twitch has since cemented its niche as a home for hardcore gamers. Ninja, one of its biggest names, has become a mainstream celebrity, taking part in New York’s New Year’s Eve celebrations – all off the back of playing games on livestream. But the announcement of Twitch Sings, plus the general attitude of the TwitchCon convention, demonstrated a shift in attention that could have competitors such as YouTube and TikTok worried.

So-called “IRL streaming” (essentially, anything that isn’t playing video games) is a major growth point for Twitch. In 2018, the time spent watching non-gaming content on Twitch more than doubled, according to Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear. IRL streaming has become more important, with streamers in those categories seeing their viewership grow on average 14 percent since the site broke out the non-gaming content into more specific sections last year.


Among Twitch’s biggest non-gaming names is Kitboga, who traps internet scammers by turning the tables on them on livestream. His content puts him in opposition to the standard view of what Twitch is. “At times I’ve felt a little awkward or different, but I think most folks producing content on Twitch are focused on creating an entertaining experience surrounding something they’re passionate about,” he explained before TwitchCon. “I feel at home now more than ever before, especially with more and more content producers expanding beyond purely gaming content.”

That increased diversity in content was seen on the convention floor, says Simon Clark, a YouTuber who also regularly streams games on Twitch. “The convention floor was maybe 70 or 80 percent directly gaming focused, but they had a decided Bob Ross area with people doing art classes,” he explains. The dead painter is a meme on Twitch, with the site buying the rights to his painting videos from the family estate back in 2015.

Clark also saw huge numbers of attendees – around one in every 10 – streaming live from the convention floor. “They were talking into their phones – vlogging,” he says.

Read next Super Mario 3D All-Stars does the unthinkable: it messes up Mario 64 Super Mario 3D All-Stars does the unthinkable: it messes up Mario 64

“Streamers have pushed this tech so far that we’ve shared everything from paragliding to farming to watching watersliding pigs,” said Marcus Graham, better known as djWHEAT, Twitch’s director of creator development, on-stage at TwitchCon. Not for nothing was one of the themes of Twitch’s year in review recap “the year of going outside”. It was a conscious attempt to expand the site from the (often unfair) stereotype of teenage boys playing games in their bedrooms. Twitch Sings pushes this further.


“Twitch has featured non-gaming specific content for years, which includes music,” says Chase, who was Twitch’s longstanding PR executive until recently taking a job as head of communications at livestreaming platform StreamElements. “This [Twitch Sings] could be a great vehicle to help those singers, and entertainers in general, better engage and retain their viewers.” It could also perhaps offer an alternative home for TikTok stars looking for a longform video platform.

“It did feel like the total focus on gaming had been eroded from a lot of different angles,” says Clark of the recent conference. Still, some things stayed the same, and show the site isn’t ready to abandon its core audience yet. Wander the halls at TwitchCon and you would find yourself directed by a litany of signs to the convention halls, toilets and backstage lounges. “They said: ‘Level Up’ or ‘Quest Unlocked’,” says Clark. “The framing of the con was still very much gaming.”

More great stories from WIRED

– The Play Store is packed with nasty, violent games for kids

– Why does the London Tube still not have Wi-Fi in tunnels?

– Netflix's Love, Death & Robots is just tedious sexist sci-fi


– The grim reality of life under London's Gangs Matrix

– Care about online privacy? Then change your phone number