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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stewSquared commented
I'd prefer a "Programming" category. If you search for live coding streams on Twitch, most of it isn't game dev, which already has its own tag anyway.
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ChamplooMusashi commented
It would be better to have a software development category as opposed to specifically game dev. It would help the population of two categories, particularly since the dev category is more dominated in viewership of game dev channels anyways. Any dev category being made separate from sci & tech is an improvement, however
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BalintMagyar commented
The more we educate people about how games are made, the less toxicity there is towards developers. WE NEED THIS.
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Usquebaugh67 commented
I made a much longer comment earlier so I'll keep this one short.
Judging from the support on this forum as well as the listed twitter post, there is a lot of positive momentum for this to get a Game Development category on Twitch. It helps out all the game devs, those associated with game development, those (like myself) who watch them as well as those who aspire to become game developers.
Please do the right the right thing here Twitch. Give your streamers/viewers what they want, a Game Development Category!
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jeffXvX commented
I'm planning to become a game developer and getting to interact with devs and watch their work live is invaluable. It's frustrating that it's so hard to find this content.
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KreatureKiu commented
We need to give a platform to indie devs to help them grow a community that supports them! There are thousands of them who have no audience and that hinders them greatly.
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PirateSoftware commented
Something to add for Twitch. Not all game developers are programmers. We're artists, animators, voice actors, community builders, effects artists, writers, all kinds of things. A category for Game Development could help grow that community and lead to streams with disciplines outside of just programming.
People want to watch games being made and this gives them a chance to do that.
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Panadero18 commented
Science & Technology is too general.
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TheSeltzer commented
I miss the old gamedev category. Devs got much needed visibility by having a dedicated category.
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starryfrostgamer commented
WE NEED THIS!!!!!!!!
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KoutetsuSteel commented
【Twitch】If only there was an easy way to help discoverability for game developers who stream on our platform...
【The Community】*links this page*
【Twitch】If only there was an easy...
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AHyperOwl commented
Make it happen, Twitch. I'd love to be able to find more devs this way, and as the categories are now, it's near impossible.
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ThePoinball commented
Yess, We need our own category !
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HelloComics commented
Being mostly a website dedicated to gaming, I was very surprised and saddened when the game development category was eliminated.
It's very hard right now for someone coming to the site to find game development channels with the search function.
As a streamer, I've also seen the number of viewers drop as a consequence.
Also, because of the nature of game development (requiring coding, art, animation, music, and many different disciplines) it doesn't really fit in any of the existing categories.
I believe adding the Game Development category will benefit streamers, viewers, and Twitch. That is, everybody. -
PiratePaprika commented
Science & Technology is a ******* mess. Can't even browse Science & Technology how disgusting it is.
Animal 24/7 botting channels and programming in same category? Good job Twitch.
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TheOnlyFuntime commented
I'm fully down for this, I really would love to find more game developers in twitch, however, I don't know many and the recommendation tool and current categories haven't been very helpful, therefore, I think this addition would be splendid and judging by the other feedback from others, they feel the same way.
So in conclusion, ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ give us the Game Development category Twitch
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voidpixelDev commented
They removed the category a few years ago... and I don't know why. :(
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Riazey commented
Honestly when I first started looking for game dev on twitch I typed in game development and got nothing so I didn't find the channels until by chance an incredibly long time later!
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PolyDungeon commented
Add a game dev category
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crippley commented
In my opinion, twitch has been missing this for ages. I'd definitely be using twitch a lot more often if it had this feature. Instead, I just watch the same few devs that I know from different sources.