Twitch, the mega online gaming platform, recently launched the 'Hype Train' feature that gives reards to multiple members of the society that come together to support a charity, streamer, or affiliate. The live event can be launched during a spike in support events including subscriptions or use of Bits.
When members contribute materially to a channel, a Hype Train is activated and a bar appears above the chat that gives donators rewards as it fills. When a member donates more than 100 bits ($1.40 USD), they will randomly be distributed an emote award -- a custom Twitch-designed badge or sticker. If the meter is filled before the timer ends, a new level is unlocked with different emote rewards.
According to Twitch, the brand released the feature in order to encourage and challenge the members to reach "epic" levels of support for streamers or events.
Image Credit: Twitch
What Makes This Trend Stand Out
- Live Multi-player Egaming Donations
- Twitch's Hype Train feature has created an opportunity to capture donations and incentivize higher levels of support for streamers and events.
- Crowd-based Rewards
- The Hype Train bar, emote awards, and new levels unlock has created a trend of crowd-based rewards that encourage social giving in the online gaming community.
- Gamification of Charitable Giving
- The Hype Train feature is an example of how gamification can be used to incentivize and encourage charitable giving.
Sectors Adopting This
- Online Gaming
- The Hype Train feature has disrupted traditional models of online gaming donation, and could lead to an entirely new industry of interactive social gaming and gamified fundraising.
- Charity
- The trend toward crowd-based rewards could result in a disruption of the traditional methods of charitable giving, leading to new ways for individuals to support causes they care about.
- Technology
- As new features and technologies are developed to power interactive, online gaming and fundraising, the technology industry may have new opportunities to create software and services that help power these activities.
