Bring back an improved version of Host Mode as a safer “Live Event Host” feature for community events.

I’d like Twitch to reconsider bringing back channel hosting, not necessarily in the exact same form as the old Host Mode, but as a redesigned feature that solves the problems Twitch identified when it was removed.

I understand why the original Host Mode had issues. If viewers were watching a hosted stream on another channel’s page, they might not understand where they were, which chat they were in, who they were supporting, or how to interact with the actual live streamer. It could also create moderation concerns if a large channel suddenly exposed a smaller channel to an audience they were not prepared to handle. Those are real concerns.

But the answer should be to improve hosting, not remove a powerful community tool entirely.

A major use case that is currently underserved is local esports and fighting game community events. At many fighting game locals, there may be 20+ players attending who all stream individually and average 5–15 viewers each. The tournament stream might only have 5 viewers because everyone’s regular audiences are split across personal channels, Discords, and offline pages. Those players are physically at the event, competing in the bracket, and supporting the tournament, but they have no good way to send their viewers to the official event stream unless they are actively live and use a raid.

That creates a weird outcome: the community is gathered in one real-world place, but the Twitch audience is fragmented or lost. The event stream could easily have 150+ viewers if everyone could easily expose the event stream to their viewers but there is no straight forward way to do so right now.

A redesigned hosting feature could fix this while also addressing Twitch’s original concerns:

1. Hosted viewers should be routed into the hosted channel’s chat, not the host channel’s chat.
   1a. If I host a tournament stream, my viewers should be watching and chatting in the tournament channel’s chat, with the tournament channel’s moderators, rules, AutoMod settings, follower/subscriber settings, and safety tools.

2. Hosting should require consent or pre-approval from the hosted channel.
   2a. Channels could choose who is allowed to host them. For example, an event organizer could approve attending players, commentators, venue staff, or partner communities before the event starts.
   2b. You could even utilize the "Knock" feature where people wouldn't have to go live but could ask permission to host and the event stream can approve the host.

3. Add an “Event Host Mode” for tournaments, charity streams, conventions, and community events.
   3a. The event stream could create an approved host list or event code. Approved channels could display the official event stream while they are offline or attending the event.

4. Make the viewer experience obvious.
   4a. The page should clearly say: “You are watching [Event Channel], hosted by [Streamer].”
   4b. The follow, subscribe, chat, raid credit, and viewer credit should all point to the live event channel. This removes the confusion that existed with old Host Mode.

5. Give small channels safety controls.
   5a. Hosted channels should be able to set limits such as: allow hosts only from approved channels, cap host exposure from unapproved channels, require verified accounts to chat during large host spikes, or automatically enable stricter moderation when host traffic exceeds a threshold.

6. Track host-driven discovery without inflating fake engagement.
   6a. Twitch could separate “hosted viewers” from normal viewers in analytics if needed. That would address the concern that hosted viewers are not always fully organic while still letting community events benefit from real discovery.

This would be especially valuable for fighting game locals, small esports scenes, LAN events, speedrunning events, charity events, music events, tabletop events, and creator meetups. These communities often depend on many small creators working together. Right now, Twitch has raids for when a stream ends and Suggested Channels for passive offline recommendations, but there is no strong tool for “I am part of this live event right now; send my audience to the official stream.”

Please consider bringing back hosting as a modern, safer, consent-based feature. The old Host Mode had problems, but the underlying need is still real: Twitch communities need better ways to combine fragmented audiences around shared live events.