Twitch Plays Pokemon Go Is Now a Thing, Because of Course It Is

Twitch Plays streams are nothing new, but the latest one certainly is different.

Twitch Plays Pokemon Go is officially underway. Like those in the past, this sees Twitch viewers control the game by submitting commands through the channel's chatroom. Pokemon Go is an AR game that requires someone to venture out into the real world with their phone to track down Pokemon, though, so those in chat are also able to dictate where the player moves.

"Twitch started playing in Central Park, NYC," reads an FAQ. "Where they are now is anyone's guess." It adds that the location is "spoofed," so it sounds as if someone isn't physically navigating the world. That's probably for the best, safety-wise.

Further complicating things is the fact that the game is played on a touchscreen. Twitch Plays games are typically played with a controller, so for this, the screen has been split up into a grid. Commands are then entered by specifying what area of the screen chat members want them to touch.

How long this will run for remains to be seen. Developer Niantic could step in to do something about hacks being used to simulate the player's location; those running the channel are aware of the possibility, stating, "If Niantic or Nintendo wishes to ban the account that Twitch is playing with, they're more than welcome to, but we assume that they understand that this is all in good fun."

The Twitch Plays phenomenon began with another Pokemon game, Pokemon Red/Blue, back in 2014. Since then, it's become popular enough to warrant its own directory on Twitch.

Pokemon Go, meanwhile, is the sensation of today: It's proven to be wildly popular during its first week of availability and, at least so far, is showing no signs of slowing down.