Twitch is finally getting rewind, but there’s a big catch

Viewers will soon see the much-awaited rewind feature on Twitch, but the platform has added a limitation guaranteeing that not everyone will be able to use it.

Twitch is still evolving and viewers want to see more features on the platform. One such feature is the ability to rewind streams, and Twitch CEO Dan Clancy announced during TwitChon that it will soon be available, but also that it comes with a caveat. Clancy also spoke on Twitch bringing forward a vertical stream feature and 2K streaming.

Twitch CEO confirms rewind feature release

CEO Dan Clancy confirmed that Twitch will release the rewind feature, stating that it’s slated for launch “later this summer.”

Fans have been waiting for the rewind feature for a long time. Missing a bit of a livestream and then having to wait for it to end so you can catch up is quite annoying for any viewer, as it being unable to easily rewatch an exciting or hilarious moment during a stream. Dan Clancy revealed at TwitchCon Europe that viewers will no longer have to wait and will now be able to rewind livestreams dynamically during a broadcast. Viewers can then click the live button to rejoin the stream as they like.

The feature does come with strings attached as not all viewers will be able to make use of it. Clancy stated that only Turbo users and individual channel subscribers will be able to rewind streams when the feature releases later this summer. This essentially makes rewind a paid feature, and many fans aren’t happy about it. Some claim it’s a feature that should have been added a long time back as a default part of the platform’s experience and that Twitch now wants to unfairly monetize it.

Twitch set to get vertical streams

Viewers also learned that Twitch is introducing vertical streams to ensure streams look good in both landscape and portrait modes.

Twitch is rolling out a dual format mode that allows streamers to broadcast their content in both landscape and portrait modes. This way viewers can use the mode that works best on any given device. Portrait orientation may be better on mobile devices while larger screens may work better with landscape mode.

Previously, viewers had to watch the stream in whichever format the streamer had recorded. This new option will make it so viewers can potentially use whichever orientation they want regardless of how the streamer recorded the streams. The platform will test this new feature with certain channels and then release it for everyone.

Twitch has also started rolling out 2K videos, and that means viewers can now watch even higher-resolution streams. The 1449p streaming is currently in open beta so content creators may need to wait until it’s available. The feature comes with an HEVC codec that makes the picture better even while at a lower bitrate.