Twitchcon Shifts European Focus To Berlin Arabian Post

(MENAFN- The Arabian Post) clearfix"> Rotterdam Ahoy became the centre of Twitch's European creator community as TwitchCon Rotterdam 2026 opened its final weekend before the Amazon-owned livestreaming platform shifts its European convention to Berlin next year.

The two-day gathering, running on 30 and 31 May, brought streamers, viewers, game publishers, sponsors and technology partners together at one of Europe's busiest fan events for livestreaming culture. Twitch confirmed that TwitchCon Europe 2027 will be held in Berlin on 22 and 23 May, marking a return to Germany after Rotterdam's run as the European host city.

The announcement gave the Rotterdam edition added significance, with the venue hosting creator meetups, panels, esports-style showcases, fan activations, merchandise areas and community programming across the weekend. Show hours ran from 10am to 6pm on both days, while wristband pickup and sponsor-led events began ahead of the main programme.

Minecraft took a prominent place at this year's event, serving as a presenting sponsor and anchoring one of the weekend's highest-profile broadcasts. Minecraft Live was staged from TwitchCon for the first time, with the bonus show scheduled for 5.30pm Central European Time on 30 May. The broadcast included previews of upcoming game content, developer appearances and community-facing announcements aimed at Minecraft's global audience.

The Minecraft Arena added a physical dimension to the tie-up, offering fans themed experiences, creator appearances, exclusive merchandise and live tournament-style programming. The Midoffs Live, presented by Tubbo, placed Minecraft speedrunning at the centre of the convention floor, underlining how creator-led competitive formats have become a major draw for younger audiences.

Twitch used the Rotterdam event to unveil a broad set of product changes designed to improve stream quality, mobile viewing, clip creation, notifications and creator earnings. The most significant technical announcement was the expansion of 2K streaming at 1440p to all Partners and Affiliates in June, a move that raises visual quality for gameplay, creative work and fast-moving live content.

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The platform is also increasing bitrates to support the higher-quality streams, with limits rising to 9 Mbps for 1440p and 7.5 Mbps for 1080p. The change forms part of Twitch's Enhanced Broadcasting system, which uses the creator's client to encode multiple versions of a stream for viewers on different devices and connections.

Mobile viewing was another major focus. Twitch said Dual Format streaming will allow creators to stream in horizontal and vertical formats at the same time, giving mobile users a full-screen portrait view while desktop viewers continue to receive the standard horizontal layout. Server-side transcoding support will be added for Partners and many Affiliates to reduce the technical burden on creators using the feature.

Twitch also announced stream summaries, a tool designed to help viewers joining midway through a broadcast understand what has already happened. The feature reflects a broader push to make long livestreams easier to enter, follow and share, especially as platforms compete for viewers accustomed to short-form video and algorithmic feeds.

Clip creation is being expanded through Auto Clips, which will automatically generate captioned clips from key moments in a stream by assessing chat activity, vocal inflection and on-screen events. Twitch said only about half of streamers currently have a clip to share after a broadcast, while streamers using Auto Clips have lifted that figure to 85 per cent. The feature is due to move into beta in the coming months.

Captioning tools for community clips are also being rolled out, allowing creators to adjust text, timing and style for viewers watching without sound. Twitch plans to surface stronger clips in stream summaries and Stories, helping creators turn live moments into shareable highlights that can travel beyond the platform.

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Monetisation updates formed another part of the Rotterdam announcements. Twitch is expanding Creator Sponsorships by bringing Bounty Board-style campaigns to Affiliates through Open Invite campaigns. The company also pointed to the growth of Streamer-Led Promotions, saying channels running gift-subscription discounts can see gift subs rise by as much as 80 per cent during promotional periods.

Higher-tier subscriber benefits are being widened through a partnership with GIPHY, allowing Tier 2 and Tier 3 subscribers to use GIFs in chat, subject to streamer controls and moderation settings. Twitch is also expanding“Gift Em All”, a feature that allows users to gift subscriptions to eligible viewers watching and following a streamer, with a cap of 1,000 gift subscriptions at once.

For European creators, Twitch said SEPA payouts converted into euros will be offered with no conversion fees and lower transfer costs from this summer. The change is aimed at creators in eurozone countries who have faced currency conversion costs on their platform earnings.

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