Twitch gets musical GIFs with TuneMoji extension

Originally published on Engadget UK

Twitch streamers can now celebrate their victories with musical GIFs. The Amazon-owned platform is getting a new extension that will add support for TuneMoji, a service where users can create and upload short audio and visual mash-ups. Streamers will be able to incorporate TuneMoji content into their live broadcasts and give viewers the ability to share GIFs in the chat.

GIFs and other content aren't exactly new to Twitch. The streaming service has offered support for extensions since 2017 and introduced a Giphy add-on last year. But TuneMoji does bring something slightly different to the table. It takes existing GIFs and images and lets users pair it with looping audio, like a TikTok for memes. Streamers will be able to draw from the musical GIFs made by TuneMoji's community of more than 30 million users or create their own that they can queue up and play during a broadcast.

With the new extension, streamers will be also able to control how viewers share TuneMoji content on their channel. They can configure a set of TuneMojis available to use in chat and can specify if every follower or only paid subscribers can use the musical GIFs. TuneMojis can also be made available to followers in exchange for Bits, a virtual currency that followers can use to tip or interact with their favourite streamers.