Academy Gaming

Stream delays are intentional delays set by the streamer. Viewers will see a slight delay between what’s happening in real-time and what’s being shown on their screens. It typically ranges from 5 to 30 seconds and is an option for Twitch Partners to set up in their Creator Dashboard. If you aren’t a Twitch Partner, there are other options, such as using the Stream Delay feature by Streamlabs.

Now that we’ve established what a stream delay is, you may be wondering what the benefits are to it. Well, for one, stream delays are great if you’re streaming competitive gameplay. Oftentimes, when streamers don’t set up a stream delay, there will be ‘stream snipers’ who take advantage of the streamer’s live feed to troll or simply gain a competitive advantage. This is a big problem and is the main reason why competitive esports players who host the occasional stream add stream delays to them.