If you’ve ever wanted to rewind a Twitch stream, that long-awaited feature is finally at hand. Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has announced that pause and rewind options were added to the service this week, with some notable exceptions.
Clancy made the announcement during a live-stream (via The Verge), and noted that it is currently limited to Twitch Turbo subscribers or for channels that users are individually subscribed to. However, it’s not available on mobile yet.
“It’s a feature I’ve been looking forward to us getting out,” said Clancy. “It keeps viewers connected as they pause or rewind. Chat continues to stay live, so you can see the hype and understand what’s happening in the live stream. The idea is that you’re still there, you can catch up and then you come back.”
Twitch streamers will also have to activate the rewind and pause options on their end, and that feature is limited to users who are affiliated or partnered with Twitch.
Clancy indicated that the feature will eventually be added to mobile, and there will be a phased rollout to everyone on Twitch in the future. One of Clancy’s stated reasons for not immediately going wide with the feature is that Twitch wants to make sure rewind can’t be used to sidestep ads on the platform. He also indicated that rewind won’t be available for DJ channels because of rights issues.
Twitch remains one of the top platforms for streamers, and recently helped elevate the indie horror game No, I’m Not a Human. Twitch, Valve, Discord, and Reddit leaders have also been called upon to testify in front of Congress about online radicalization.
