Livestreaming service Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, announced at its annual TwitchCon event earlier this year that it would move into the vertical video space. Now those initial alpha tests have gone live with a few streamers, according to findings from market intelligence provider Appsensa.
In a recent build, the firm found references to the vertical video tests and information about what sort of features these new streams would offer. The feature, once fully rolled out, would make Twitch more competitive with other popular vertical video services like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
Twitch’s tests are not widespread at this point, as Appsensa’s research only found a handful of references in the app’s code that mentioned the tests would focus on just “a few streamers” for the time being. (It was unable to identify which ones.) The firm was also able to identify a vertical theater mode with dedicated user interface elements and a way to toggle between Twitch’s classic and new vertical video formats.
When users encounter the feature for the first time, they’ll be presented with user education dialogs that say “vertical video is here,” and remind users it’s still just a test and they can switch to the classic view at any time.
Appsensa also noted that the current implementation includes permission handling for both the camera and microphone access, as is required by mobile platforms, indicating the app will be used for the livestreams.
Reached for comment, Twitch declined to say more about the tests, only noting that the company had said during its keynote at TwitchCon Rotterdam earlier this year that it would begin testing with a small number of channels during the summer. A spokesperson added that those tests would expand to more users later in the year.
During TwitchCon, the company announced it would try out dual-format and 2K streaming with a small number of channels, as well.
