Twitch and Harmonix team up for streaming karaoke game Twitch Sings

Streaming platform Twitch and music game maker Harmonix have teamed up for a new game, Twitch Sings, that will bring karaoke to livestreaming.

Emmett Shear, CEO and co-founder of Twitch, announced Twitch Sings at the opening keynote of TwitchCon today, describing it as a “new category of game that’s made to be streamed.” Shear discussed how in some games the audience is a key part of the experience.

“There are many games and genres that are better with Twitch, yet I think we’re just starting to scratch the surface of what’s possible when everyone wants to play together,” Shear said. “We believe in a new category of game that’s made to be streamed, where the audience isn’t just nice to have, they’re crucial to the experience, where the driver’s seat is big enough for your whole community. So we teamed up with Harmonix and built a game ourselves.”

The performative nature of karaoke is an ideal fit for livestreaming, and Harmonix’s expertise in that area (Rock Band, SingSpace) make the developer the natural choice.

Twitch

“We knew karaoke would be the perfect place to start,” Shear said. “It’s live, it’s always entertaining and when it really gets going the line between the crowd and the stage just disappears completely. With Twitch Sings you can sing your heart out and share your performance across Twitch, or perform duets with your community. And being in the crowd is just as much fun as holding the mic, and just as important. In chat you can request the next song, cheer to activate light shows on stage and give your favorite streamers fun challenges to tackle.”

Twitch Sings is currently in closed beta, and Twitch is accepting signups on its website for streamers who would like to take part. The closed beta will launch later this year on PC and iOS, with an Android version also in the works.

According to a press release from Twitch, Twitch Sings will feature “hundreds of songs and features that streamers and their communities can use to make amazing, one-of-a-kind performances together.”