Popular game video site Twitch.tv has been one of the driving factors behind the growing livestreaming and esports movement, and now Twitch has made huge improvements to its systems that have reduced delay in live feeds by up to 33 percent.

“We’ve successfully cut the video segment size from four seconds to two seconds, which decreases the amount of video that is stored in the processing pipeline,” Twitch explained on its blog. “If you’re a broadcaster who spends a lot of time interacting with chat, this new reduced delay option means you’ll spend less time waiting for replies.”

The new delay reduction is optional and must be enabled by the streamer before beginning a broadcast for it to take effect. The feature is currently in beta, and Twitch points out that not every streamer will want to activate the option.

“We’re releasing the reduced delay beta as an option to broadcasters because it does come at a small quality of service cost – particularly to viewers with poor internet connections,” Twitch wrote. “Some viewers may experience changes in playback, with shorter, more frequent buffering times. Because less video is queued on a viewer’s computer, they will be more susceptible to variations in download bandwidth, and may experience more interruptions in service while video buffers.”

Twitch added, “Rather than require every channel to switch to the reduced delay option, we’re leaving it up to the broadcaster to decide what is best for his or her community. If you spend a lot of time interacting with chat, a decreased delay may be incredibly beneficial to your community.”

Chat is an important component for many livestreamers, and it is one of the main features that differentiates the format from pre-recorded or on demand game videos, such as Let’s Plays on YouTube. Because many streamers earn money through subscribers, there is a clear monetary incentive behind strong viewer interaction and engagement.

Twitch staff member Cyrus Hall noted in the blog comments that the delay reduction may be improved in the future. “We are being rather conservative in the player with the new configuration currently,” Hall wrote, “and will likely be able to chop another 2 seconds off there over the next couple weeks.”

Screenshot via Cowsep | Twitch