Twitch announced today a new tool called Guest Star. Guest Star is a new tool that makes it easy, safe, and fun for creators to bring guests onto their stream. Creators will be able to incorporate the audio and video of each guest they invite, removing the need for 3rd-party applications. Anyone with a Twitch account can be invited (up to five guests), whether they’re using a desktop browser or mobile device.

Talk style content is one the fastest growing categories on Twitch and represents an opportunity to enable existing streamers to spend more time with the Talk format interacting with their communities. By making this easier and more stable, we can empower existing streamers to produce this type of content more often, and inspire new streamers to try their hand at producing talk content.

Here’s how Just Chatting has grown on Twitch:

Comparing Jan-May 2020 to Jan-May 2022

• Creator revenue for creators who broadcast Just Chatting content grew 169%
• Hours broadcast from creators streaming primarily Just Chatting content grew 68%
• Hours watched in the Just Chatting category grew 151%

Guest Star helps creators host this type of content in the following ways:

• Ease
  • Guest Star works with all the platforms creators are already familiar with, like OBS and Twitch Studio.
  • Guest Star is as easy as a video chat, and creators don’t need to use another 3rd-party app to bring viewers and chatters onto their stream.
  • Guest Star works on desktop and mobile so that up to five guests can join a stream from anywhere they like.
• Fun
  • Creators can bring on all kinds of guests to create content like game shows, advice columns, sport chat shows, and so much more.
  • Viewers can raise their hand to show interest in joining their favourite creator’s stream.
  • Guest windows can be used with overlays and branding so that creators can integrate guests in all sorts of ways.
• Safety
  • All guests must have Twitch accounts, so any TOS violations are reportable to Twitch and come with consequences.
  • Creators and moderators will be able to vet potential guests and keep bad actors off their stream by viewing phone verification settings, account age, and whether the account is in good standing.
  • Creators and moderators will be able to remove guests from their stream with the click of a button, for any reason.

Originally available in the US, the launch will now make Guest Star available to ANZ and UK creators.