The New Rewind Feature of Kick: A Fan-Favorite Streaming Update is Here

The online entertainment industry is among the most innovative in terms of new breakthroughs and fresh ideas. Catering to the ever-growing fan base of players and viewers is not easy, which is why whenever there is a new way to enjoy the experience the news is huge and the fans flock to it. This is especially true for online streaming, the most popular way to enjoy content right now, particularly gaming. Interacting with content creators and pro gamers who share their gameplay sessions with thousands of viewers is the norm these days.

With popular and new games, viewers and subscribers love to tune in and take a look at the games before they decide whether or not they want to play them themselves. Even if they are already playing, listening to the live commentary, and seeing the best in business their thing is enough for the fans to join in and support them. One such platform is Kick.com which has been the fastest-growing and continuously changing service for streaming in the last several years.

With its main competition being two other industry leaders in Twitch and YouTube, Kick is always looking for new ways to get ahead, and now they have a big one. Enter the brand new rewind feature of Kick, a fan-favorite update to their already amazing streaming experience that will take it to new heights and bring over numerous users of other platforms. In this article, we talk about this new option, why it is so important, and how to use it. Overall, it is a quality-of-life update and a setting that fans have been asking for from all platforms, and yet, Twitch has failed to deliver. Kick, on the other hand, has it, instantly making it a better option because of it.

What is the Rewind Feature?

So, what exactly is this new way to enjoy your streams, and what makes it a game-changer? Many video-sharing websites have rewinds; it is one of the basics of watching digital content, after all. Well, it is, but with live streams that are happening in real time, it becomes an invaluable way to have more freedom, chooses which parts of the stream you want to watch again, and go back in case of connection loss, stuttering, or lag. Kick has unveiled their new feature as a way to rewind a live stream without losing anything and be able to pick and choose when and how you watch it.

The fans of Twitch have been asking for it for years, but the Amazon-owned platform has failed to realize the fans’ wishes, which is not the first time. Kick has done it, proving once more that the viewers’ experience is what matters to them the most. This can be seen in every aspect of the platform, especially when you compare some of the fan-favorite options with the competition and their solutions. Kick has been running strong since the day it appeared more than two years ago. Together with Stake, who owns it, they are breaking new ground with sponsorships, partnerships, and now with rewinding content that is being played live.

The ability to rewind a stream while watching it and not having to load up a VOD (video on demand) is a huge deal for the viewers. First revealed by the platform on January 27, it is already a very popular new feature that the fans have been craving to try out. If there is any sort of interruption to the stream, be it input lag, stuttering, or a loss of your or the streamer's connection, you can easily rewind to whatever you may have missed. It is similar to how YouTube streams work, as the platform has had this option for a while now. The platform also said that the Kick rewind feature will soon be available for mobile users, too. On desktop, it is already live so make sure you check it out as soon as possible with your favorite streamers.

Reactions from the Biggest Streamers

As mentioned, the streaming service has partnerships with some of the biggest names in the world of gaming. Many of them have already gone on record and shared their thoughts about this great new update. One of them was none other than xQc, who said, “Actually ahead of the curve, hold on now,” praising how Kick is nos now leading the way in the industry with this new option to enjoy the content. Another big name and one of the co-founders of the platform, Trainwreckstv, added, “A lot of things still to fix, but W.” He admits there are some more things to figure out in the meantime, but the fact that the feature is already available is more than enough for the platform initially.

Streamers praised the change and added insight and suggestions like the ability to see thumbnails while rewinding to make it easier to pick out the exact moment they want to rewind to. Others advised Kick to advertise the feature more to bring more traffic to the website now that they have something that Twitch does not. In reality, this would be a great campaign to promote the service to new fans who cherish platforms that are not afraid of innovation and want to make things better for their fans.

How to Do It?

Alright, so now that you know what it is, let us dive into how it can be used and give an example of context in which to do so. Replaying key moments in live streaming is crucial because oftentimes they happen in a split second. These blink-and-you-miss-it moments can be heartbreaking to actually not see, especially when they turn the tide of a match after which everything changes. So if that ever happens on Twitch, you have to wait for someone to clip it, post it, and watch it later as a VOD. On Kick, you can simply rewind a couple of seconds and minutes prior to the big moment and watch it again however many times you want or need.

The seek bar controls are easy to use, and they will make it simple for you to pinpoint a specific timestamp during the stream. YouTube fans know exactly how it works, so it will not be an issue, while for those coming from Twitch, this will be a revelation that could make them remain on the platform and rarely, if ever, return to Twitch. On their official X (Twitter) page, Kick showcased a clip from xQc playing Counter-Strike and performing his signature aiming while shooting, only for the video to stutter and a few eliminations to be missed. The video lags out and skips forward, making the user miss the crucial clutch moments rather than win the round. Simply sliding the bar back a bit, the user can watch it again and relive the moment without any issues.

The feature is currently available only to the main desktop website users and will come to mobile soon. In only a few steps, you can rewind any stream you want. First, open the live stream you want to experience. Log into your account and open the streamer’s page. At the bottom of the video player, there are playback controls similar to any other video-sharing website. The playback options include quality options, clip features, and full-screen or theatre modes. When you hover near the bottom of the player, there is a seek bar that pops up now. Next, use the seeker bar for more precision and drag the cursor to rewind to the specific moment in the stream. When you release the cursor, the playback resumes from that chosen moment onwards.

When you see the moment you have missed, you can go back to what is being streamed live. There is a live button to do this, and a single click will bring you back to the current, present moment. As you can see, it is very easy and basic. Anyone can do it, and it makes sense to have it on a service that deals with live videos. You can also use your keyboard to skip back and forth with arrow keys. Similar to any other video player out there, a single hit of the left arrow skips back 5 seconds, and then the right arrow skips forward 5 seconds. Again, this a great quality-of-life update that the modern fan and subscriber is already accustomed to since it is a staple of video sharing on the internet.

Viewers’ Reactions, Suggestions, and Other Upcoming Features

Now that Stake and Kick have made this possible for their fans and streamers, a question presents itself as to what comes next. There are many features that they have been asking for that would make the service even better and an even bigger competitor on the market where YouTube and Twitch are the only other two big names. Praises are great, and the reactions have been positive, but some users still want more. It makes sense because the website has proven it can grow rapidly by introducing things everyone benefits from, increasing its watch time, active streamers number, and subscriptions every month and every year.

BigBoiPnut wrote, “Bout time haha! Nah this is awesome! Another great step, gotta get into the bigger things though, keen for kick 2.0, baby!” From this post, we can see that there is great excitement for this new change, but also that other things should also be available soon. Another user, bitasmietanks_, said, “still waiting for private messages, channel points, and unban appeals,” reminding the operator that there is still a lot more work to be done before Kick can truly be the king of streaming that everyone else wants to be like. Rewinding live content is a huge step in the right direction though.

Kick’s Other Main Features

Just as a reminder, Kick has many other great features and reasons for both the fans and content creators to choose it over the competition. The main one deals with the revenue and earnings, as streamers keep an incredible 95% of subscription earnings, as opposed to Twitch’s 50%. YouTube is a bit more generous with 70%, but it is still considerably lower than what streamers get on Kick. The platform is also not shy to offer content that is otherwise not available on other platforms, mainly gambling and other more mature variety, which is entirely restricted to the Amazon-owned competitor. This, alone, is enough for thousands of fans to come over to the green service and leave behind the purple one.

Stake’s service is also better for new and upcoming creators to make a name for themselves, much more so than the competition. It is still relatively new, and although famous worldwide, a new content creator has higher chances to succeed and make a name for themselves than on YouTube or Twitch. This is because these two platforms have incredible amounts of streamers that make it difficult for newcomers to even become a little bit visible. The algorithm pushes the already famous and popular names to the front page without much thought being given to new names. Transparency is also on a higher level while the competition hides away and applies rules unevenly and unfairly, based on the sub number and popularity. This does not fly with modern audiences who are much more literate on all things related to internet tech, finance, and legality.

Kick is more lenient and chill with their rules and guidelines, unlike Twitch with its stringent policies content restrictions, and account suspensions for almost any small violation or suspected misbehavior. This is not something fans or creators enjoy. The biggest downside of the competition includes ads, with the Amazon platform so predatory in pushing their advertisements and the creators relying on it to make their money. With Kick, mostly due to almost double the amount of revenue, there is no need for gamers to run ads all the time, making the community appreciate the experience more and not lose time on pointless ads.