If you want to watch a streamer, Twitch is usually your best option. The site suffers no shortage of gamers playing titles in front of live audiences for fun and profit, and whenever a highly anticipated game launches, you can always expect an influx of streams devoted to the title. Usually, these streams just consist of live videos, but every now and then Twitch goes the extra mile by collaborating with the game’s studio.
To celebrate the launch of Baldur’s Gate 3, Twitch has implemented a very thorough bit of integration, which includes some standard rewards and a rare level of interactivity. The first level of integration is the classic Twitch Drop. From August 3 until August 17 at 9 AM PDT, you can watch supported Twitch streamers (you can find a list of them here) play Baldur’s Gate 3, and after two hours, you can claim rewards from your personal Twitch Inventory page. At the moment, these are the cosmetic rewards you can eventually unlock via this process:
Chatterbox’s Tabard
Streamhopper Loafers
Periwinkle Undergarments
Channeler’s Trunks
Please note that you do not need to watch the same stream for two hours straight to earn these rewards. Simply logging two hours of total watch time among any supported streams will eventually unlock the special cosmetic for you.
You don’t have to own a copy of the game to unlock these rewards, but you do need a Larian Studios account. Just link that account to your Twitch account and your platform of choice (currently only Steam and GOG are available). However, if you don’t link your accounts, these Twitch rewards will expire after seven days.
If Baldur’s Gate 3’s Twitch integration stopped with loot, Larian Studios would have satisfied many gamers, but these rewards barely scratch the surface. Every channel participating in the special Baldur’s Gate 3 streams also supports the Baldur’s Gate 3 Companion Twitch extension. By hovering a mouse cursor over the video, audience members can check out each streamer’s party members and quest progression, all of which are updated in real time.
Not only can viewers get a better idea of how well each character is doing during a fight, but they can also sift through every spell, stat, and piece of equipment and study the streamer’s builds. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this extension lets spectators vote on certain dialogue options, the results of which are shown on screen. While viewers can’t sway the result of every piece of dialogue, this integration still lets audience members become active participants in the streamer’s story.
While watching streamers play Baldur’s Gate 3 and controlling their fates via a democratic vote is enjoyable, anyone who wants to participate in the fun with their own interactive stream can do so quite easily. Just record your game live as you would any other stream, but before you start, install the Baldur’s Gate 3 Companion extension. While watching a stream, hover the mouse cursor over the video, click on the “Baldur’s Gate 3 Companion” icon on the right side, and select “Add to My Channel”. The web browser should open the extension’s page. From there, just hit the “Install” button, and then configure the companion by selecting “Activate” and setting the extension as “Overlay 1”. With the extension ready, anyone who wants to stream Baldur’s Gate 3 with Twitch Integration can do so.