Create a Game Development Category.
Creative and IRL used to be categories on Twitch. Everything that wasn't games was in Creative. This means everything from Bob Ross to ASMR (let's be real that's the same thing.) was all in one place and entirely unsearchable.|
Twitch broke up Creative and IRL into a bunch of new and rad categories to help discoverability. This included Music, Art, Beauty, Food, Just Chatting, Tabletops, ASMR, Science & Technology, and others. This category splitting really helped a lot of smaller communities grow. It was easier to find new and interesting streamers because you could now discover them in an otherwise bloated and unsearchable wasteland.
For a brief period of time Game Development was also a category right after Creative was brought down. We had a huge amount of new viewers in that category but Twitch removed it after only two weeks. We were averaging 7.1 new followers per hour under Game Development.
Science & Technology however did not gain any benefit from this. It's become another catch all like Creative was. Weed growing, animal cams, earthquake sims, and a few programmers mixed in. We average 2.8 new followers per hour in this category because nobody knows what it is.
If you search Game Development on Twitch right now the category doesn't show up, neither do streams with the tag of Game Development, in fact... nothing shows up. If you search for Science "AND" Technology you get nothing. You actually have to search for Science "&" Technology. This compounds the discoverability issue and makes the category even worse for developers. We need Game Development back.
It's a simple change but it can help build a lot of new communities on Twitch. It can also make more money for indie devs and Twitch at the same time. At the end of the day I feel incredibly lucky with the success we've had on Twitch. Because of this platform and our community we will never need a publisher or investors. We get to own 100% of our studio.
I want that replicated for game devs that come after us.
This thread was posted publicly on Twitter and has so far received a very large amount of community support.
https://twitter.com/PirateSoftware/status/1361911034219425792
Hi everyone!
We’re happy to announce that thanks to your feedback, we have created the Software and Game Development category! Thank you for all of your support around this idea.
Category: https://www.twitch.tv/directory/game/Software%20and%20Game%20Development
Read more on the Twitch developer forum: https://discuss.dev.twitch.tv/t/software-game-development-a-new-streaming-category/33364
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MathiasCrowen commented
Desperately needed! Twitch, please! Make this real!
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Holokin commented
Consolidation isn't always a good move, and is deliberately a bad one when it obfuscates the interface and causes people not to be able to easily find what they're searching for. Expanding any category in this fashion would be a great benefit!
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NikolaiL commented
Twitch messed up badly when they removed Game Dev category, please bring it back. It's so bad user experience to always have to press tags to find anything related.
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Efmi_ commented
This needs to happen. I've been very much against the Science & Tech category for game dev since the original split from Creative
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AnderssonKev commented
Yes please! Make it easy for viewers to find game developers who stream!
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DeadRobotDev commented
YES! YES! YES!
I rarely watch new streamers because I have to dig through a ton of 24/7 streams that have never interested me.
I have 134 blacklisted channels on the Unwanted Twitch extension just to keep the first three lines programming related.
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8BitSkullDev commented
This is desperately needed and would be tremendously useful for the gamedev community. I am frankly surprised that this category was ever removed.
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LukeOCodes commented
How better to represent the gaming industry, than support everything from creators upwards. C'mon Twitch!
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dperession commented
if twitch wants a W.
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Steets commented
It's weird that even though there's a tag for this under Science & Technology, it doesn't appear in search results. Heck, Science and Technology itself doesn't appear unless you specifically type the ampersand (&). Making streams for small creators more accessible is in the best interest of both the streamers and Twitch as a platform -- letting viewers find the content they want to watch more easily can be the key to success for some indie devs.
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Jmorhaime1 commented
Please do this I know I would stream on my NeverdarkGames channel again if this category was created. Take the W Twitch.
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JustChillin95 commented
Yeah, uh, do this.
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TimRuswick commented
Yes! This needs to happen!
Its literally confusing every time i go to raid, i search game development and nothing comes up, and i have to jump through so many hoops just to find game devs
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StreamJS commented
I would return to streaming alongside the return of this category.
Science & Technology doesn't feel right for game development work streams that blend art, music, programming, and everything between that is required for game creation.
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Apoostrophee commented
Needs to happen. There’s so much game dev stuff on twitch, and lumping it with creative just isn’t fair.
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Drake_Dragonfire commented
As well game development would help include artists and musicians who are participating within the game development process, not just programmers.
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Drake_Dragonfire commented
It would help increase game content creators, help users know where to discover content for the games they're interested in, as well as help more people desire to participate within the platform and within the game that's being created
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MARMOON commented
this would be awesome for finding new games
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Shadeypup commented
It's a big W twitch! Having a sperate category for game devs will not only help smaller game devs build their communities but this also helps you; having a category for game devs means that game developers will be more inclined to use your platform to broadcast their work, which means more income for you! Many have voiced their opinions on social media requesting this. Please add the category!!!
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mothmans_secretary commented
༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ Take the W twitch.