Amazon Prime Video latest to offer watch party feature

While it may have missed the boat on the peak of lockdown group viewing, Amazon Prime Video has become the latest streamer to introduce a feature for social viewing.

Dubbed Watch Party, the feature is a version of Prime Video’s social viewing experience and is available on desktop PCs via web browser. It allows up to 100 people to watch a TV show or movie together.

Users can host and participate in parties with synchronised playback and a chat sidebar for viewers to converse.

Watch Party is only available in the US to Amazon Prime members at no additional charge, but it is likely to roll out to other markets in the coming months. Users can watch any content included in a Prime Video membership, with TVOD content inaccessible via the platform.

Though this is the first group watching feature with the Amazon branding, the company launched a similar feature on game streaming platform Twitch last year.

The feature allows partner-tiered creators to watch Prime content on their streams with viewers who have Prime memberships. Amazon told streamers: “This is a new way for you to engage with your community around great content that you can stream with your viewers.”