The One Tip All PS4 and Xbox Twitch Streamers Need to Know

Streaming to Twitch directly from your PS4 or Xbox One is a great way to try your hand at broadcasting without any expensive equipment or technical know-how. But while direct-from-console streaming is pretty foolproof, there are a few tricks you should know to make your broadcast as smooth as possible.

Credit: Tom's Guide

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Your PS4 or Xbox One will automatically broadcast any audio coming from your gaming headset’s microphone, which is great for chatting with your audience. But if you’re playing an online game like Mortal Kombat 11 or The Division 2, this also means that your opponents or teammates will hear you while you thank GokuKilla400 for that Twitch follow. Fortunately, there’s an easy fix to this.

Both the PS4 and Xbox One have party chat options, which allow you to create private chat rooms with your friends. This feature also doubles as a great way to isolate your chat audio from the general public while streaming, so long as you set up a party before broadcasting.

Here’s how to set up a private party for Twitch streaming on both PS4 on Xbox One.

How to Set Up a Party on PS4

  1. From the PS4 home screen menu, go to the top navigation bar and select Party > Create Party.
  2. Choose your party settings. For example, you can decide if your party will be invite-only, or if friends or recent players can join in unprompted.
  3. Select Create Party.

How to Set Up a Party on Xbox One

  1. Press the Xbox button to open up the Xbox One’s guide menu.
  2. Select the Multiplayer tab.
  3. Select Start a Party.

Both consoles also allow you to broadcast the voices of other players in your party, so long as your party members allow it on their end. This is a great way to stream out any fun chatter between you and your pals during heated multiplayer sessions.

Hopefully this helps you embark on your path to Twitch stardom without disturbing random opponents in your game. For more on upping your stream game, check out our ultimate guide to Twitch streaming.

Michael Andronico

Mike Andronico is Senior Writer at CNNUnderscored. He was formerly Managing Editor at Tom's Guide, where he wrote extensively on gaming, as well as running the show on the news front. When not at work, you can usually catch him playing Street Fighter, devouring Twitch streams and trying to convince people that Hawkeye is the best Avenger.