Twitch Partners with Red 5 Studios to Bring One-Click Broadcasting to Firefall

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Twitch, the world’s leading video platform and community for gamers, today announced its partnership with Red 5 Studios to integrate live broadcasting functionality into Firefall, an award winning sci-fi massively multiplayer online (MMO) shooter. Firefall marks the latest game to embrace real-time streaming directly to Twitch with the unique distinction of being the first to feature integrated chat functionality.

“Video broadcasting will soon be a standard, expected piece of the gaming experience with innovative companies like Red 5 making it possible by pioneering the way it’s built into games.”

“Red 5 Studios is one of the most innovative independent studios in the video game industry and we’re proud to be counted among their partners,” said Matthew DiPietro, vice president of marketing, Twitch. “Video broadcasting will soon be a standard, expected piece of the gaming experience with innovative companies like Red 5 making it possible by pioneering the way it’s built into games.”

Created by seasoned developers including the team-lead for vanilla WoW and the lead-designer of Tribes 1 and 2, Firefall’s combat is fast paced, furious, and plays like a top tier action oriented shooter. Firefall is equally an MMO, plunging hundreds of players into an all-out Player vs. Environment war against the Chosen army. It is the largest co-op shooter made to date and offers a unique gameplay experience not found anywhere else.

Uniting in the form of armies, players must band together to collect resources to craft weapons and vehicles to fight back the apocalyptic threat of the Chosen invasion. Special Nano-technology suits of armor called Battleframes enhance the human race in this future Earth and allow players to jumpjet across battlefields, wield a variety of exotic weapons of heavy destruction, and employ special abilities to reclaim the world.

This style of highly social gameplay lends itself to live broadcasting, making Twitch the perfect platform for players and viewers to connect. The Twitch functionality, which enables players to live broadcast directly to their Twitch channel at the click of a button, also includes an integrated chat feature which marks its debut within an actual game.

“We’re very excited to have Twitch broadcasting integrated into Firefall,” said James Macauley, vice president of development, Red 5 Studios. “By allowing players to stream from directly within the game we’re expanding its online footprint and creating a whole new discovery mechanism. This, along with our revolutionary eSports Toolkit, provides our community with the technology they need to produce professional broadcasts of Firefall’s elite competitive gameplay.”

Red 5 Studios is among the initial publishers to announce live broadcasting directly to Twitch, with Sony Online Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Activision and Paradox Interactive also touting similar integrations.

About Red 5 Studios, Inc.

Red 5 Studios is an online game developer located in California, founded by Mark Kern, former team lead for World of Warcraft. Red 5 Studios is dedicated to bringing together millions of gamers across the world by creating immersive worlds, intriguing stories and compelling characters. It believes that online games and persistent worlds are the future of video games. For more information, please visit www.red5studios.com.

About Twitch

Twitch is the world’s leading video platform and community for gamers. More than 23 million gamers gather every month on Twitch to broadcast, watch and chat about gaming. Twitch’s video platform is the backbone of both live and on-demand distribution for leading video game broadcasters including casual gamers, pro players, tournaments, leagues, developers and gaming media organizations. Twitch is leading a revolution in the gaming community, working to create a participatory experience that transcends gameplay. Learn more at http://twitch.tv.