Twitch is getting vertical livestreams

Twitch is announcing a bunch of updates at TwitchCon Europe, including the ability to host a vertical livestream and an open beta test that lets creators stream at a higher quality.

The rollout of vertical streams should make livestreams easier to watch in portrait mode on your phone. Down the line, streamers won’t be forced to pick between vertical or horizontal streams; instead, Twitch will let streamers offer their streams in a dual format.

“This allows us to better optimize the viewing experience for a device and how a viewer is using that device,” Twitch says in a blog post. “Viewers watching on desktop will still see landscape Viewers on mobile will see your vertical layout if they hold the phone vertically, or landscape if they rotate their phone horizontally.”

The company will start testing the feature with a small amount of channels this summer and expand it later this year.

Twitch is also rolling out an open beta of “2k streaming” (which lets creators stream at 1440p) that will be available to all Twitch partners and affiliates. “Upgrading to 2k (1440p) streaming offers a noticeable step up from 1080p streaming, with richer detail, improved clarity, and better performance – whether you’re gaming, making art, or just chatting,” according to a Twitch support page. Before now, the feature had been available in a more limited beta. If you’re a streamer that wants to try it out, you can put your name on the waitlist.

The platform is introducing a way to rewind streams, too. This could be really handy if you miss something while a streamer is live or just want to go back and rewatch something. Twitch will test the feature first with a small number of viewers this summer.

Twitch’s blog post includes details about other features coming to the service, including a “combos” feature for viewers to support a streamer, the ability for streamers to run their own gift sub promotions, some improvements to clips for streamers and viewers, and that reaching affiliate status is now “more achievable.”

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy teased the vertical streams and many other updates coming to the platform in 2025 in a letter published in February.

Update, May 31st: Added details from Twitch’s blog post.