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Twitch Takes Aim at YouTube, Introduces Video Production Tools

The new creative tools introduce new options for content creators and serve as a step toward Twitch expanding its scope even more.

Charles Singletary Jr

January 26, 2018 8:20 AM

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YouTube is a clear leader in entertainment media, but has stumbled a few times while introducing new tools to lure gamers over to their platform. Twitch has stumbled a few times as well, but has made significant moves that solidify the company's presence as a leader in content creation like their latest deals with Disney, ELEAGUE and Overwatch League. Tick off another major box for twitch, as the company has introduced the new Video Producer toolset to give their creators even more ways to bring quality content to their communities.

Announced on the official Twitch blog, Video Producer introduces Reruns and Premiers. Both are YouTube-esq ways to provide content on your Twitch channel. Premiers, specifically, takes the experience of adding new original videos and combines it with Twitch's focus on community engagement. Creators can schedule the premiers and engage with their audience during, like a red carpet opening event. They can also add countdowns intros to build excitement. 

Creators have already found ways to do the things Video Producer tools are streamlining, but this will make the creation and presentation process a whole lot easier. Reruns (which is essentially the Vodcast feature rebranded) allows creators to show off best moments and welcome new viewers. Both of these new additions give creators better ways to flesh out the broadcasting schedules they have for their channels.

Once a video is premiered (all original vids must be premiered), it'll be made available for on-demand viewing indefinitely as long as the creator has an open account in good standing. When it comes to monetization, subs, bits, and free channel subs from Twitch Prime all apply to videos broadcasted through Video Producer.

While this is wonderful and it will result in some quality content for the platform, Twitch should be even more direct in taking on YouTube by vocally improving pay opportunities for partners and community toxicity. This new feature is certainly a welcome one, but also seems to be a bit more involved than YouTube's video sharing process. While yes, it will make for better engagement with communities, creators will need to be compensated better for such a thing. 

Charles Singletary Jr

News Editor

Charles Singletary Jr keeps the updates flowing as the News Editor, breaking stories while investigating the biggest topics in gaming and technology. He's pretty active on Twitter, so feel free to reach out to him @The_CSJR. Got a hot tip? Email him at Charles.Singletary@Shacknews.com.