Twitch is ending the support of its pandemic-designed ‘Prime Video Watch Party’ feature, which enables streamers to watch Prime Video content with friends. The feature will be removed from the streaming service on April 2nd, 2024.
On the official Help page for Watch Parties, Twitch announced, “We will be removing the Prime Video Watch Party feature from Twitch on April 2, 2024.”
The Prime Video Watch Party on Twitch was first introduced in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was developed to encourage Twitch streamers and audiences to watch movies and shows together as distancing made it difficult to do outside of the home due to lockdowns. However, since restrictions have been lifted, Twitch has seen a decrease in the feature’s use.
“We launched Watch Parties in 2020 to offer streamers a way to enjoy Prime Video content with their communities,” the page reads. “While some streamers incorporated Watch Parties into their streams, usage of Watch Parties on Twitch has declined over the years, so we are removing it and investing these resources in other features.”
The integration on Twitch enabled streamers to interact with their audiences while watching content such as The Boys, Invincible or The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. It is unfortunate that Twitch hasn’t been able to elevate the program to entice streamers to use it more since the pandemic.
Amazon’s Twitch service is one of many that rolled out Watch Party features during the pandemic. Streamers such as Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, and of course, Prime Video all support similar perks. As of now, it doesn’t appear as though the core ‘Prime Video Watch Party’ is going anywhere. Subscribers to Prime Video can still watch eligible titles with friends and family virtually while chatting.
