Twitch is eradicating Host Mode in October, in keeping with an replace to the platform’s “How to Use Host Mode” help-desk web page, initially noticed by reporter Zach Bussey. On October 3, the “Host Channel” Stream Manager fast motion, together with the backslash “host” command, will now not be obtainable. The “Autohost” function can be renamed “Suggested Channels.” The raid function will stay.

Host Mode was first launched in 2014 as a means of permitting streamers to advertise different channels. It permits streamers to make use of their channel to show one other channel’s stream, much like an internet site embed. Raids, however, permit streamers to ship their viewers to a different particular channel.

A Twitch consultant directed Polygon to the “How to Use Host Mode” FAQ part for clarification on why the function was eliminated. “We made the decision to deprecate this feature because the experience it delivers to viewers doesn’t match their expectations when they come to Twitch,” the part reads. “Viewers want to interact with a streamer when they’re live and host mode blocks this from happening. Preventing viewers from interacting with the streamer they’re watching also limits a streamer’s growth potential because they’re not able to build meaningful connections with those new viewers.”

Streamers and viewers alike have been taken off guard by the choice to take away the function, which was in common use for eight years. They’re additionally shocked by the notion that Host Mode “blocks” interplay. Popular streamers took to Twitter to share their confusion and frustration, and streamers and viewers alike talked about how the function allowed them to seek out or share accounts they may in any other case not have found. Overall, reactions are blended.

Omega Jones, generally known as CriticalBard on Twitter and Twitch, shared his confusion with the choice, noting the totally different use instances for internet hosting versus raiding. “I raid after I am immediately done streaming & want to continue the vibes elsewhere,” he tweeted. “I host when I’m currently not live so my unused channel clicks to someone that IS live for more engagement.”

Chris Gamble, former Twitch developer, additionally weighed in on the function in a Twitter thread.

Others have prompt that Host and Raid features are certainly redundant — or have speculated that the function is due for a revamp or a rebuild.

Regardless, it’s an attention-grabbing alternative, as smaller Twitch accounts are likely to wrestle to extend their viewers, because of the platform’s shaky discoverability options. This reality is so generally identified that it’s principally a meme at this level.

The FAQ portion of Twitch’s Host Mode web page has a piece advising streamers on “help support the growth of other streamers” after Host Mode is eliminated. Suggestions are principally to make use of remaining options — like utilizing raids to direct viewers to a really useful channel, utilizing the shoutout command, and populating the “Suggested Channels” record.

When Host Mode was first launched, Polygon famous that the function was helpful to each the unique streamer and the channel they have been recommending, as a result of the internet hosting social gathering is ready “to highlight friends’ channels or point out interesting streams.” Additionally, “any views tallied on the hosting channel count toward the channel that’s being hosted, and viewers can subscribe directly to the original channel from the host’s page.” This made channels curation platforms, along with broadcasts in their very own proper.