Playing along and Playing for on Twitch: Livestreaming from Tandem Play to Performance

Abstract

This paper is an analysis of individuals who livestream gameplay on Twitch. Two core concepts - ‘playing along’ and ‘playing for’ – are put forth as two poles to a continuum to better discuss tandem play in the context of livestreaming. From an analysis of participants’ exit interviews and observations of larger Twitch streams, it is shown that livestreaming is a form of tandem play, but only to a point. As audiences grow, ‘playing along’ becomes difficult for streamers. The ‘ceiling’ of tandem play is reached when a streamer is so focused on entertaining the largest number of people possible that they are no longer playing along with their spectators, but only playing for them.