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New Twitch section will show the world’s most popular gamers IRL

Amazon-owned Twitch has announced a new “IRL” category enabling users to post streams showcasing their lives away from gaming machines.

IRL, which is internet speak for In Real Life, is designed to enable posters to interact with their audience on a more human level.

The firm says it wants to put its personalities at the centre of the videos within the IRL channel. As a result, it’ll be enabling broadcasts from the mobile app next year.

Twitch CEO Emmett Shear said: “While gaming is their core identity, what we’ve heard repeatedly from them is that they are interested in sharing their everyday lives, thoughts, and opinions with their communities.”

Related: Microsoft gets Twitch-y with new streaming acquisition

The firm currently has 100 million community members watching over two million broadcasters.

Since the $1 billion Amazon takeover Twitch has also introduced a cooking channel and Twitch Creative, where members can post their artwork. Certain Amazon pilots have also appeared on the platform.

The latest move seems to be another attempt to reel in rival platform YouTube, which has done a far more effective job of allowing popular gamers to express themselves.

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Do you care what the world’s best Call of Duty players get up to IRL? Share your thoughts in the comments below

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