Twitch CEO Urges Game Firms to Avoid Attention Vortex of ‘GTA 6’

Twitch Chief Executive Officer Dan Clancy said Grand Theft Auto VI will likely face little serious competition for gamer attention this holiday season, and he sees that as the correct strategy.

Widely expected to be the biggest debut in video game history, GTA 6 is set to be a star attraction on Sony Group Corp.’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox Series when it’s released on Nov. 19. Clancy, visiting Japan to meet game developers and content creators from across Asia at the Tokyo Game Show, said the frenzy around the new Rockstar Games Inc. title is likely to extend into January.

Clancy, who oversees the world’s most popular game-streaming platform, said he sees game companies planning to either get their big new releases out in October or holding them back until after the GTA 6 fanfare cools off. That may still be a while off, however, as Clancy also said he anticipates Rockstar Games to add a multiplayer mode — where GTA players can cooperate or compete online — which will then likely give a fresh spurt of interest.

“We spent a lot of time talking with Rockstar about their plans, and also helping them think about how they can engage our creators,” Clancy said in an interview. “You are going to see this big bump with GTA 6, but then an even bigger one next year when they launch multiplayer.”

That new role-playing game is shaping up to be the biggest event for the Amazon.com Inc.-owned livestreaming platform. Clancy said there has been nothing comparable during his time as CEO, now seven years in, for the level of user anticipation and excitement ahead of launch.

For Twitch, the much-anticipated game and its multiplayer mode will likely bring back people who haven’t visited the service lately, boosting overall viewership.

“It absolutely will spike the overall viewership meaningfully,” Clancy said. “How much I have no idea.”

Rockstar’s GTA V remains one of the most watched games on Twitch thanks in part to the popularity of so-called role-playing, in which streamers assume characters such as police officers, criminals and judges and create storylines inside the game. Clancy described it as a form of “improvisational performance art.”

The format has helped GTA attract viewers who may not play the game themselves. Such sustained engagement has become increasingly important to publishers seeking to keep players and viewers interested in their titles for longer.

Looking at the competitive field, Clancy said the ability to build lasting communities is Twitch’s key advantage over rivals such as TikTok and Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube, where users quickly jump from one piece of content to another.

Twitch is designed to let viewers spend extended periods with the same creators and each other, giving relationships time to form, Clancy said. That distinction is becoming more important amid ballooning social media feeds and content generated by artificial intelligence as people seek interaction with other humans, he added.

AI can help Twitch creators come up with new ways to entertain their audiences, but Clancy doesn’t expect the technology will replace human creators. He said AI-operated streamers will remain “the exception,” because viewers come to Twitch to form relationships with creators and other members of their communities.

“We’re programmed to feel a sense of belonging and connection with other people,” Clancy said.