Twitch Wants Its Own Virtual Currency
It seemed to be only a matter of time until Twitch decided to issue its own virtual currency. Rewarding streamers and viewers for their loyalty and activity is a smart business strategy. In fact, avid Twitch users won’t have to set up anything, as the company will take care of every single aspect of issuing and using Stream+.
What these points will be used for remains a bit vague right now. Amazon Game Studios’ Patrick Gilmore told the BBC the Stream+ currency could be used for polls and wagering. Moreover, there are plans to make them usable for items to use within games. No specific titles or items were mentioned at the time of publication, though.
That being said, there is one game that has been confirmed to use the Stream+ currency. Amazon Game Studios will release Breakaway soon, which is a multi-player game designed to compete with the likes of Activision Blizzard, Riot Games, and Valve.
There is one worrisome aspect about the whole Stream+ ordeal. Neither Amazon nor Twitch is keen on releasing critical information regarding the inner workings of this currency. It remains unknown how these points will be issued, how many there are, and whether or not they will use a distributed ledger.
More importantly, gambling regulators are taking a closer look at exports and gaming services. Since bettors can wager on these games through dedicated platforms– including with cryptocurrency — this decision to issue a native virtual currency comes at an interesting time. Whether or not the Stream+ currency can be exchanged against real money remains unknown for now.
