Twitch Adds New Friends Feature, Beta Begins This Month

Twitch users who want to keep track of all their friends will be able to do so in the future. The video game streaming company has announced Friends, a feature that lets users add friends, see when they're online, and chat with them.

Friends is Twitch's third social feature added in 2016, the company announced in a press release. You'll be able to add up to 500 friends, and in addition to chatting, you'll now be able to send Whispers to other users with a single click.

Twitch's director of programming, Marcus Graham, says Friends is another step towards making the platform a great place for users to not only connect with broadcasters but other users as well.

"Friends is the latest social feature in Twitch's ongoing effort to help gamers connect with one another," said Graham. "While Twitch has always been a great platform for broadcasters to connect with viewers, now viewers will be able to connect with each other too.

"Other social features include the recently launched Channel Feed, as well as Whispers and Party Chat. Because the community continues to flock to features that help create real connections, as exemplified by the 300 million whispers sent just since launch, we are continuing to make this a key focus."

Friends beta signups start on Saturday, April 23, at the PAX East Twitch booth.