A new style of gaming has come out based on the major popularity of of live-streaming services, particularly Twitch. As an avid stream watcher, I was very interested in these new games, called stream first games, where the game is made with primary focus of being played by broadcasters and having viewer involvement in the game, whether it be in the play or the outcome.
This post is more of a review/ my opinion of the concept of stream first games, in comparison to games that don’t fit that category (aka most other games in existence).
A good, brief description was made by one of the first, standout stream first games, Streamline.
Besides Streamline, two other games with the stream first mentality were Superfight and Wastelanders. I made a review for Superfight as the game itself already, so I have played these steam first style games, but not as a streamer. Trailers for both games are below.
My opinion of stream first games is that I am conflicted by them, and not sure how successful they will actually be.
First, these games are not built to be played as a non-streamer. They are made for broadcasters specifically, and playing as a non-streamer you can tell that your entertainment was not the priority.
Second, the interactive portions of these games are huge, so playing them and not broadcasting almost defeats the purpose of the game. Now, you can just become a streamer and play these games and have the interactivity, but streaming just to get a full experience of a game is a little much, in my opinion.
Now, these games are still fun to play and make for good games, and it will be interesting to see where stream first games go in the future. For now, I will be skeptically intrigued by them.
Have you heard of stream first games? Share your thoughts below.
I’m such a gaming nerd but have never heard of these. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve never heard of these…. looks interesting! I blog about gaming, too 🙂