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January 30, 2013

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Goes Live with Twitch

By Steve Anderson, Contributing TMCnet Writer

Sometimes it's not enough to make that sweet headshot from across the map, or blast that jet out of the air that Robert Downey Jr. was flying. No, sometimes that killing shot not only needs to be made; it needs to be shared.

Today, Twitch announced a partnership with Treyarch that will allow Twitch users to check out all the action themselves with live streaming broadcasts in their "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2" games.

The newly-minted partnership between Treyarch and Twitch features a new in-game streaming feature produced by Treyarch so that users can not only broadcast the action on their cameras, but upload their audio commentary as well. Users will be able to use their current Twitch accounts, or sign up for completely new Twitch accounts, so they can show off their prowess, or just troll like lunatics.



Users can then offer their Twitch live stream links around their social networks for easy connection to a potentially wider audience, or broadcast from just one click on PC, Xbox 360, or PlayStation 3.

"Call of Duty Elite" users, meanwhile, will also be able to see the Twitch feeds through their own services, along with the player cards of the users doing the streaming. Additionally, "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2" users have a complete set of eSports and competitive options available to them, including not only the live streaming options, but also League Play and CODCasting.

Twitch’s CEO, Emmett Shear, described his excitement for bringing streaming to a new level in terms of "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2" and also quite a bit beyond, saying that, "in-game streaming is entering a whole new world."

Indeed, studio head of Treyarch Mark Lamia rang a note of assent on that front, expressing a desire to get the tools necessary to show off in-game experiences into users' hands for wider sharing with the globe.

Indeed, there's quite a bit of noble potential here. After all, there is such a thing as professional gaming, and we've seen some very exciting matchups – sometimes even the equal of anything that might be seen on a Sunday afternoon gridiron – come out of the sport. We've also seen some less noble purposes come out of this, some just funny, and some just rather sad.

Listening to a nine-year-old scream racial epithets into his microphone for 10 minutes straight isn't really the most noble of human aspirations....

Yet a few minutes' search on YouTube (News - Alert) will show many such examples of youth howling objectionable content. Naturally, there's more to streaming than children and racism, and it's these examples that users should be striving to emulate.

It’ll be interesting to see, in the coming weeks, just how the community uses its newfound capabilities; if this new broadcasting will be a haven for impressive gameplay and good sportsmanship, or bad actors behaving badly. 

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO Miami 2013, happening now in Miami, Florida.  Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO (News - Alert). Follow us on Twitter.




Edited by Braden Becker
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