Twitch has announced a new service called Twitch Prime, a "premium experience" that's included at no extra cost with Amazon Prime memberships. Twitch Prime members get free game loot every month, discounts on new boxed games sold by Amazon, and ad-free viewing, exclusive emotes, a chat badge, and one free channel subscription every 30 days.
“Twitch Prime is one of those unique cases where we have an opportunity to build a product that is equally great for all of our customers—streamers, viewers, and game developers,” Twitch CEO Emmett Shear said. “Offering subscriptions free through Prime saves money for viewers, while supporting streamers to build their community. Free games and in-game content are always a hit with gamers, but they also let developers reach millions of new potential players. When Amazon acquired Twitch, the first thing the community asked was, ‘When will Twitch be bundled in with Amazon Prime?’ Twitch Prime answers that question in a way that speaks to our community.”
Twitch Prime is currently available in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, and to be clear, is only available with an Amazon Prime membership. That will cost you:
- US: $10.99/month or $99/year
- Canada: CDN$ 79.00/year
- UK: £7.99/month
- Germany: EUR 49,00/year
- France: EUR 49,00/year
- Italy: EUR 19,99/year
- Spain: EUR 19,95/year
Existing Twitch Turbo subscribers who don't want Amazon Prime can opt to stick with that service (it's slightly cheaper, at $9 per month), and Twitch viewers in countries were Amazon Prime isn't supported will still be able to sign up for it. In countries were Amazon Prime is available, however, no new Turbo subscriptions will be taken: From here on, if you want ad-free Twitch, you'll have to sign up for Amazon Prime. On the upside, if you already subscribe to both services, you can now drop Turbo and save yourself nine bucks a month.
The first round of "game loot" includes instant access to the new Hearthstone hero Tyrande Whisperwind, and Streamline, "a new indie game built from the ground up for broadcasters on Twitch to play with their viewers." TwitchCon attendees will also be given an exclusive "Boss Ymir" skin for Smite, and a Bomb King weapon for Paladins. More information about the new program, and a link to sign up for Amazon Prime (which begins with a 30-day free trial) can be found at twitchprime.com.
