Twitch opens Drops program to all developers

Video game streaming continues to rise in popularity, and while game sales from a specific title’s promotion on-stream by a widely-viewed personality is great for player and viewer additions are great. But as the bigger-name streaming personalities play more different games, developers may be wishing they could, even if for a short while, direct attention towards their own and reward the players and streamers that log in and play. Twitch hopes their latest announcement, Drops, offers just that chance to developers.
Twitch integration with certain games that directly integrate various elements of the streaming service and experience is nothing new, but Drops offer an interesting incentive opportunity. Drops, once implemented by a developer, are basically timed (either by duration, or when a milestone like current players or viewers is achieved) rewards that are directly in-game accessible, like an item or set of currency. Twitch has already been testing the Drops system, with the most recent example being the special Janus character and Twitch-themed skin for Smite during Hi-Rez Expo when viewers linked their Twitch and Hi-Rez accounts.
In the official announcement on the Twitch blog, no specific examples of implementing Drops are given, but the principle of ‘link your Twitch to your other account with this other service and you’ll get some special in-game stuff on special occasions’ seems easy enough to grasp. Twitch will be showing off the Drops system during Game Developers Conference, GDC, this year at their booth, and during that whole week, Smite and Paladins will be running Drops campaigns. While the announcement is very much intended for developer ears and eyes, it’s great to see Twitch offering developers new ways of engaging and retaining players.
Source: Twitch Blog, Twitch Developer Documentation