The beta of Twitch's new desktop app launches March 16th

Twitch is currently the most popular place to stream games – although integrated Beam streaming might give Microsoft’s offering a significant boost – and has been constantly expanding lately. From the very Twitter-y Twitch Pulse to Amazon Prime integration, Amazon has been doing everything in their power to make sure Twitch offers everything it possibly can. Now they’re planning to fill another area with Twitch’s very own desktop app, which just so happens to be called the Twitch Desktop App.

Coming March 16th, the Twitch Desktop App Beta!

Create a Twitch server, connect with friends, & manage your addons! #TwitchTownHall pic.twitter.com/ihABHCyvXZ

— Twitch (@Twitch) March 10, 2017

Despite not having the most eloquent name of all time, the Twitch Desktop App looks interesting – it packs in options to benefit both streamers and viewers and contains some things you might not expect, like voice and video calling. Some aspects of it seem like an attempt to pull users away from the gaming focused chat app Discord, which in turn has been pulling users in gaming communities away from Microsoft’s very own Skype.

Twitch’s app is going to launch in beta on March 16th, which is next Thursday. It’s not currently known how long the beta will go on for, but it will be completely public. When it launches you’ll be able to head over to the official Twitch Desktop App page – go figure – to download it and check it out. It’s not currently known if it will end up in the Windows Store, but Project Centennial would certainly make the process of bringing it over a possibility.

Will you be using Twitch’s desktop app? Let us know in the comments below!