Although coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup won’t be available on Twitch this summer, the leading live-video streaming service is still tuning in to the tournament. On Monday, Twitch launched a set of emotes that users can collect when they cheer for select Twitch streamers.
According to Twitch, “the World Cup is the world’s biggest sporting event,” and that is why the service is experimenting with adding emote content for a tournament the site isn’t even streaming.
Cheering on Twitch isn’t free. A set of 100 Bits—Twitch’s cheering tokens—costs $1.40. (Although bulk purchases and first-time buys are discounted.) Streamers earn money through the Bits they receive from fans.
Each time a user cheers, they’ll receive one of three different sets of new emotes, including football supporter hats, football actions (whistles, red cards, etc.), and Footy the Football going through all the emotions soccer fans do. Fans who collect all three sets will get a permanent emote they’ll be able to use after the others, which are temporary, expire on Aug. 15.
Twitch channels themselves can opt in or out of the World Cup emote campaign, but it won’t be available on the Overwatch League and Heroes of the Storm Global Championship channels.