Jun 27, 2016 - By Robin Fontaine

Introducing Cheering: Celebrate, together.

Update: As of Sept 19, the Cheering beta now includes: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Israel, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, US Outlying Islands, UK, and US.

Update on June 28: Follow up FAQ

When we watch Twitch, we feel surrounded by people who understand something that many just don’t. And when amazing things happen on stream, there’s no one else we’d rather celebrate with. The moments we share on Twitch, and the streamers who create them, are the glue that binds us together. So now, we are happy to introduce a new way for us to celebrate and support streamers together: Cheering.

Cheering is a new way to show support for streamers and celebrate the moments you love with the community, all right in chat. A Cheer is a chat message that uses Bits, which are evolving animated emotes that you can buy. Bits emotes can be used one by one, all at once, or anywhere in between. Using many at once shows more support and creates cooler emotes!

Bits emotes can be used anywhere in a chat message by typing”cheer” followed by a number, ex. cheer33 or cheer255. Here’s how it works…

Cheering shows your support for the partner just like subscriptions do, and as you Cheer in a channel, you earn Cheer Chat Badges for that channel so that your support is recognized.

Cheering is launching today in beta, which means this is just the beginning and you’ll see more cool stuff for Cheering in the months to come. You can try it out in participating channels: lirik, Summit1G, DansGaming, towelliee, ProfessorBroman, KingGothalion, ActaBunniFooFoo, Tinadayton, JoshOG, GiantWaffle, Bacon_Donut, StreamerHouse, camgears, Nightblue3, PauseUnpause, BrownMan, SirhcEz, crisheroes, nairomk, MANvsGAME, pianoimproman, VernNotice, TimTheTatman, JonSandman, strippin, Dexteritybonus, AnneMunition, Witwix, Sacriel, samzorz, reynad27, Ellohime, Trick2g, GassyMexican, hsdogdog, savjz, hyphonix, iwilldominate, hiko, sjow, liquidtlo, djWHEAT, Aureylian, slin, Frodan, twitch_scar, nerolabs, cheer2play, CohhCarnage, lifewithlaughs, Sevadus, trihex, brotatoe, Vieparlafoi, Swiftor, OMGitsfirefoxx, CobaltStreak, iKasperr, FutureManGaming, itmejp, jacklifear, Ezekiel_III, IIJERiiCHOII, richard_hammer, EatMyDiction1, GoldGlove, Femsteph, lolRenaynay

To get started, buy some Bits by clicking on the Bits icon that appears in the chat message window, just to the left of the emote button.

We’re so excited to bring this new experience to Twitch, and we hope you’ll join us in support, celebration, and Cheering, together.

Burning questions:

Q. What are some of the benefits of Cheering?

A. If you’ve ever watched Twitch and wanted to show support, but you couldn’t do it the way you wanted, now you can Cheer. You can Cheer if you’re a channel subscriber or if you aren’t. You can Cheer using any number of Bits you like, whenever you want. You can start Cheering right when things get interesting, or you can Cheer when a moment is dying down to keep the train going. Plus, you earn Cheer Chat Badges as you Cheer.

Even if you aren’t the Cheering type, you can still benefit from Cheering on Twitch. Cheer Chat Badges will help you identify the regulars in new channels, animated emotes will draw your attention to important messages or moments, and since Cheering is in chat, streamers and their moderators can make sure that the Cheering in their channel is right for their community.

Q. What do the Bits emotes and Cheer Chat Badges look like:

Q. Does Cheering support third-party integrations?

A. Absolutely! Third parties can build cool stuff around Cheering through chat messages and through our PubSub system. REST API support is forthcoming.

Q. When will Twitch make Cheering available for all partners?

A. As soon as we can! Our goal is to make Cheering a great experience for streamers and viewers alike. During the beta period, we’ll be gathering feedback and making improvements, which is much easier to do on a smaller scale. We’re excited about the future of Cheering, and we’re looking forward to making it more widely available as soon as it’s ready.

Q. What payment methods can I use to buy Bits?

A. Bits are purchased via Amazon Payments. We leveraged Amazon’s payment technology so that we could make Cheering available sooner, and with more features. We’re working hard to make Bits and Cheering awesome, and that includes adding additional local payment methods and currency support in the future.

Q. What if I have a question that wasn’t answered here?

A. First, go our Help Center article on Cheering for more details. If you don’t see your answer there, you can ask a question.

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