TwitchTV Gets Its First In-Game Streaming Integration, Introduces A Scholarship For Competitive Gamers

Launched just about a year ago, live streaming site TwitchTV has very quickly established itself as one of the top destinations for e-sports enthusiasts who want to broadcast their gaming sessions to the world. Pretty soon it’ll be even easier for TwitchTV users to broadcast their game sessions, as the company is announcing its first in-game integration. It’s also helping to groom some new competitive gamers, thanks to a scholarship that it is launching in partnership with Alienware and SteelSeries.

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Paradox Interactive is announcing that upcoming game title The Showdown Effect will have TwitchTV built-in. That will let users instantly launch TwitchTV’s streaming dashboard from directly within the game, so they can start broadcasting their gameplay without jumping between applications. Paradox will be showing off the capability from TwitchTV’s booth at noon on Tuesday.

The Showdown Effect, which is slated for release in early 2013, is the first title to be announced with instant access to the TwitchTV platform, but if the e-sports streaming startup gets its way, it won’t be the last: TwitchTV is working with other games publishers on enabling even more direct integrations, which it hopes to announce later this year.

While it’s getting embedded in new games, TwitchTV is also hoping to grow the e-sports market by announcing a new scholarship to help competitive gamers improve their chops. It’s partnering with Dell’s Alienware and peripheral manufacturer SteelSeries on the scholarship, which will award $50,000 to five student gamers.

The 2012 TwitchTV and Alienware Scholarship committee will be made up of industry experts and will review applications based on students’ GPA, gaming prowess, and “passion for playing.” Applicants will need to submit their grade point average, show off their skills through in-game ranking, tournament history, or prizes that they’ve received, and submit an essay on what games mean to them, along with a video explaining why they should be considered for the scholarship.

TwitchTV will accept applications between June 5 and July 15, 2012, and will announce winners of the scholarship on August 15. For a list of requirements and to apply, interested gamers can go to www.twitch.tv/p/scholarship.

Finally, in addition to its own announcements, TwitchTV will have pretty comprehensive coverage of the annual gaming expo over the next several days, including live streams of announcements from video game publishers such as 2K Games, Ubisoft, Activision, SEGA, CAPCOM, and Electronic Arts.