Skip to main content

Squad Stream brings the magic of couch co-op gaming to Twitch

Twitch Squad Stream
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Twitch‘s latest feature for creators aims to reimagine playing games with friends in the digital age. Squad Stream will let you and up to three friends easily go live on Twitch and stream in a single window.

Squad Stream is intended to make things much simpler for streaming cooperative and multiplayer experiences. Oftentimes, you’re watching one streamer during a match of, say, Apex Legends, but you’re not getting the complete picture of the squad. Squad Stream is designed to allow viewers to see every moment, just as if they were on the couch at home playing with their own friends.

Streamers can enter a squad from the dashboard. Squad Stream is inherently beneficial for viewers, as it lets them see up to four different viewpoints in a given game. But it’s also being pitched as a good way for creators to expand their reach and engage with audiences they don’t normally come across. Joining up with other creators to stream games they don’t typically play on their own channel will likely help to increase subscriber counts.

The most popular Twitch streams usually fall in the battle royale genre, but Squad Stream sounds like the perfect setup for other formats such as speedrunning and co-op experiences like A Way Out or Overcooked 2.

Twitch already has two neat options for collaboration but neither of them actively allow streamers to play together. Raids let streamers bounce to another channel, bringing their current audience members with them. Hosting allows streamers to broadcast another creator’s stream on their own page, introducing new content and creators to their viewers.

Squad Stream is available now for Twitch Partners. Viewers will be given the chance to opt-in to Squad Stream when you initiate it. It’s unclear when Twitch plans on rolling out the feature to all of its users.

Squad Stream sounds as if it will open up new opportunities for interesting and unique content. If you don’t watch creators on Twitch, you’re missing out on some truly amazing gaming moments. Twitch streamer The Happy Mob just recently completed a run through all five “Soulsbourne” games without getting hit a single time. From Software’s games are notoriously difficult, a trend that continues with its latest title, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Editors' Recommendations

Steven Petite
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…
This upcoming PC game brings Lego building to the real-time strategy genre
cataclismo preview 4

When asked about his inspiration for Cataclismo, Game Director Vicent Ramirez has a simple reply: "Legos."

Digital Sun, a studio based in Spain, is best known for its work on action games Moonlighter and The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story. The studio had been working on multiple projects for a while now, including Cataclismo. The upcoming indie mimics gameplay seen in classic real-time strategy games that built the genre, like Starcraft, but it also features a brick-by-brick building mechanic that really looks to define the game.

Read more
We played tons of games at GDC 2024. Put these ones on your wish list
A cutscene from Sopa.

Every year at GDC, we play dozens of games that are unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. It’s usually where we find titles that go on to become some of our favorites of the year, like last year’s show-stealing Viewfinder. And while we love finding those surefire hits, our favorite part of the show is discovering the totally unique projects that we can’t stop thinking about.

There was no shortage of those games at and around this year’s show. Over the course of a week, we’d play a host of creative games with totally innovative ideas. There was everything from a Tomagotchi tribute to a creepy horror game about a streamer on the occult dark web. If you’re the kind of person who worries that the gaming industry is out of ideas, this year’s show should alleviate those fears. To celebrate that, we’ve rounded up our favorite games from this year’s show. You’ll find that no two games here look remotely alike – and that’s what makes them so special.
Dungeons of Hinterberg

Read more
World of Goo 2 might just be the Nintendo Switch’s next must-own co-op game
A built structure in World of Goo 2.

When I sat down to demo World of Goo 2 at this year’s GDC, I noted to the developers on hand how surprising it was to see a sequel after so long. “It’s been, what? Ten years?” I said. I was very far off the mark: They noted that the original World of Goo launched in 2008. After playing a few levels (and having an existential crisis over time’s rapid passing), I’d find myself wondering how such an obvious slam dunk didn’t come sooner.

Like its predecessor, World of Goo 2 is a physics-based puzzle game where players craft structures from little, gooey critters. It presents a series of engineering challenges, as poorly built structures will topple under the weight of all those jiggly little pals. Rather than reinventing that concept entirely, World of Goo 2 adds some wild new ideas onto that stable structure that opens up its puzzle potential. The result is a chaotic co-op game that’s a perfect fit for the Nintendo Switch.

Read more