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Live streaming has become a massive industry in recent years. Platforms like Twitch and YouTube allow people to broadcast their gaming sessions and other content to a global audience. While this has been a positive development for the industry, it has also created some problems, one of them known as stream sniping. In this article, we will discuss what it is, why it might be a problem along with some potential solutions.
Stream sniping is a term used to describe a situation in which a player watches a live stream of someone else's gameplay and uses the information to gain an advantage over the streamer. This can involve following the streamer in the game, killing them, or disrupting their gameplay. Stream snipers can do this by watching the streamer's crucial information that is visible on the screen.
Stream sniping is a significant problem for many streamers. It can disrupt their gameplay, ruin their experience, and potentially cost them money. Streamers who play competitive games may lose ranking points or miss out on prize money. Moreover, stream sniping can lead to harassment, bullying, and other forms of negative behaviour that can harm the mental health and well-being of streamers.
Stream sniping can be particularly harmful to small streamers who are trying to grow their audience. These streamers are often more vulnerable to stream snipers, as they have fewer viewers and less visibility on the platform. When a small streamer is targeted by a stream sniper, it can prevent them from growing their audience, as viewers may be deterred by the disruptive behaviours of the bad actor.
Stream sniping is against the terms of service for most live streaming platforms. The players can report those who engage in this sort of behaviour. Depending on the severity of the offence, the platform may ban the offending player.
Since every bit of information given away puts the streamer at a disadvantage, sometimes simply keeping the most important information, like location and the current status/equipment blurred out should make it harder to cause disruptions for the streamer. This may not be a perfect solution, as seasoned players can still recognise the locations and take advantage of it. It doesn't really affect or create a disadvantage from the spectators point of view, since they should still be able to fully enjoy the content.
Delaying your stream is one of the most effective ways to prevent stream sniping. By introducing a delay of a few minutes between the gameplay and the stream broadcast, the information displayed on the screen is not in real-time, making it almost impossible for stream snipers to gain an advantage, especially in more dynamic games where location is changed frequently. There are several ways to introduce a delay to your stream. One of the easiest methods is to use the built-in delay feature on the streaming platform you're using. Twitch, for example, allows streamers to introduce a delay of up to 15 minutes by adjusting the delay settings in their stream dashboard. This does lead to problematic situation where the streamer cannot interact with the viewers organically. If the delay is too great a lot of comments will be irrelevant by the time they show up, which may frustrate both the spectators and the streamer as well.
It's not much of a secret that the main reason why stream sniping exists is to get attention. Some people also like to see a streamer lose themselves every time they get killed in an unlikely or inexplicable way. Hence simply not giving them what they want will reduce the "fun" they're getting out of it. Obviously it's far from perfect and may only work on the least dedicated ones. Especially if it's a competitive match that involves prizes and monetary gains. In that case other methods would prove more efficient, despite the drawbacks.
Stream sniping will continue to be a problem as long as there will be people enjoying ruining the fun of others. But also by those who choose to play with unfair advantages for their own benefit. As technology improves, there might be way to detect such behaviour automatically. For now it will come down to finding balance between inconvenience for viewers and the streamer. Best of luck from Dreams Quest to all streamers, big and small. Hope to see some of you in the future with our Origins: The Fall of Azoria game!
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