Skip to main content

Love that game you're watching on Twitch? Why not buy it for yourself?

twitch buy games banner saga 2
Don’t just watch others play games on Twitch. Play them yourself, too. On Monday, the Amazon-owned live-streaming video platform announced its entrance into the computer video game market. While the company has never been on the sidelines as far as gameplay is concerned, it’s now solidly in the fray in the business aspect of the industry as well. Now, when you watch a stream of a game, you’ll have the option to buy the game or in-game content (if it’s available on Twitch) via a new “buy” button. It’ll appear below the video on the channel page, if you’re looking for it.

“Ever since our first baby steps onto the internet, our goal has been to make Twitch the ultimate hub for gaming on the web. What started as a simple streaming platform has become a living, breathing social community,” the company wrote in an announcement. “Soon we’ll be taking another step to further strengthen the community and benefit streamers and viewers alike. Twitch has always been the best place to watch, share, and play games. Soon, it will be the best place to buy games as well.”

Twitch is also offering revenue share to streaming partners who have opted into the new program, so if you buy a game, the streamer gets 5 percent of the revenue. That means a new way for you, the video game fan, to support your favorite streamer, simply by buying a game via his or her channel. Moreover, any purchase you make over $5 gets you a Twitch Crate, described as “a digital loot box with a special reward like a game-specific emote, a chat badge, or some Bits.” Each Crate will be different, as the contents are randomly generated.

All games purchased on Twitch will be available for download and play with the Twitch launcher, or through existing services. At launch, partners include Ubisoft, Telltale Games, Digital Extremes, Hi Rez Studios, Double Fine Games, Fred Wood, 11Bit, Jackbox Games, tinyBuild, Raw Fury, Devolver Digital, Gambitious, Trion Worlds, Blue Mammoth Games, iNK Stories, Versus Evil, Proletariat, Paradox Interactive, Vlambeer, and Campo Santo.

Editors' Recommendations

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
You’re going to love new mech ability in Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe
Kirby is dressed as a mech in Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe.

Nintendo has a tricky task on its hand with Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe. The upcoming Nintendo Switch release revives a 2011 Kirby entry that was liked well enough by fans at the time, but it’ll launch in the shadow of the pink puffball’s best adventure, last year’s transformative Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Though a wave of love for Kirby should help Return to Dream Land get some extra eyes, it’ll need to do a bit more than visually touch up an old platformer to fully capitalize on that success.

The good news is that developer Hal Laboratories seems up to that task. I saw around 30 minutes of gameplay from Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe, showing off some of the rerelease’s new features. While its core platforming remains unchanged, standing up as a return to form for the series, its enhancements have me excited to dive back into Dream Land -- especially once I saw Kirby’s new mech suit in action. Though I'm more interested in some genre experiments here which see Hal testing promising new 2D platforming ideas in a safe package.
Mecha Kirby
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe will be familiar whether you’ve played the original version or not. It’s a straightforward 2D Kirby game where players inhale enemies, get copy abilities, and collect a whole bunch of stuff. The added twist during the Wii era was that it featured four-player co-op, which returns here, though that’s not as much of a special selling point in 2023 as it was in 2011. There are some key new additions, though, that should entice Kirby fans back.

Read more
How Windows 11 scrapes your data before you’re even connected to the internet
windows 10 pro default product key privacy

You toggled the privacy sliders off in Windows 11, you don't want to share your data with Microsoft, and that's the end of it, right? It turns out Windows 11 is collecting a lot of your data regardless, even on a brand-new PC.

Neowin recently reported on a YouTube video by The PC Security Channel where they showed how a brand new Windows 11 laptop versus a fresh Window XP install behaved in terms of what data, if any, was being sent online.

Read more
Why you probably shouldn’t buy the $599 M2 Mac mini
A top-down view of the Mac Mini.

Computers don't typically get cheaper -- especially not when they have an Apple logo plastered on them. But it's true, the new M2 Mac mini is $100 cheaper than the M1 Mac mini. It's certainly the most affordable way in a long while to get into the Mac ecosystem. Add in the extra performance that the M2 brings over the M1, and you have a winning formula, right?

In theory, yes. But there are a few considerations to take into account about the base configuration of the M2 Mac mini that should at least make you think twice about what kind of a computer you really need.

Read more