38 PCWorld DECEMBER 2019NEWS TWITCH STUDIO
microphone, monitor
resolution, and
streaming bitrate. It
also includes
customizable
templates, overlays,
and integrated alerts
to make your stream
look as slick as
possible with minimal
hassle. And since
community lies at the
heart of Twitch, Studio
lets you keep tabs on
your chat, too.
Dedicated tinkerers
and streaming
professionals can no
doubt use established
third-party tools like
OBS to create much
more elaborate custom
setups, but Twitch
Studio sounds perfect
for people who want
to give this
livestreaming thing a
try without having to
study up first.
Twitch has been
under fire from several directions recently.
Microsoft baked simple game-streaming
tools for its Mixer service directly into
Windows 10’s awesome game bar, andrecently poached
several high-profile
Twitch streamers like
Ninja, Shroud, and
King Gothalion for
Mixer. YouTube
Gaming largely fizzled
out, but livestreaming
is still a priority for
Google’s video
goliath, and it too
recently wooed an
ultra-popular Fortnite
streamer, CouRage,
away from Twitch.
With Twitch
Studio, Amazon could
start bringing in new
homegrown talent to
replenish its ranks and
extend the streaming
service’s considerable
reach even further.
The Twitch Studio
beta is a free
download for
Windows 7 or higher
(go.pcworld.com/
twn7). If you need
heavier hardware
firepower to kick off your streaming stardom
dreams, be sure to check out our guide to
the best graphics cards for PC gaming (go.
pcworld.com/cdgr).