What sets Noice, a new streaming platform, apart from the rest? For starters, their tagline is “Play the Stream.” Noice offers an interactive and collaborative experience all while you get to enjoy your favorite content creator's live stream.
What is Noice?
Noice describes itself as a “next-gen streaming platform for gamers,” and is “meticulously crafted to meet the needs of gamers and community builders.” Noice was co-founded by CEO Jussi Laakkonnen, previously the Executive Vice President of Unity Technologies from 2014 to 2018, and is backed by entrepreneurs affiliated with Unity, Supercell, King, and more. The Noice staff consists of 70 highly experienced persons with experience in game development, gaming platforms and services, and the creator economy from companies such as Unity, Rovio, Ubisoft, Meta, Twitch, Twitter, and more.
Right now, Noice is in limited closed beta, with only select streamers and users being able to experience their content.
How do you Play the Stream?
Thanks to the Noice team, ClutchPoints got an early look at the experience. First, we had to group ourselves into a party of up to 4 people. It was evident that the platform placed great importance on community interaction and participation from the start of the stream, as it placed our avatars in a virtual lobby where we could see other viewers and parties emoting. This lobby view transitions into a similar one with the stream more in focus, but you can still see the audience's avatars. Of course, you can still full-screen the stream.
The Noice system shined once we hopped onto the Fortnite stream. We were able to choose one card out of a hand of several to become our “active” card that would predict what the streamer would do next. Talking with Noice, they explained that the cards on your hand also adjust depending on the streamer, such as the “Next Knockdown is with a Shotgun” card only appearing if the streamer has a shotgun in his inventory. Each card gives a set amount of points, and when you predict correctly, the points will be granted to your team's progress. You can compare scores with viewers from the same stream on the sidebar, evoking the gamer's competitiveness.
While this seemed surface-level at first, it would give a chance for viewers to show off how much they know the streamer. For instance, those with more watch hours on a hypothetical streamer would know that they prefer getting eliminations with shotguns in certain situations, and they can leverage that to time their card for maximum points.
The party with the highest points gets featured at the podium at the end of the game for bragging rights.
Outside of stream, the cards have an entire level system, and you can buy extra card packs from the shop using premium currency. Noice also has a battle pass feature which can grant you cards, emotes, avatar customization items, and more on both its free track and premium track.
Speaking with Noice, they revealed that they intend to support Fortnite and Apex Legends for now, with titles like Dota 2, League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2, and VALORANT mentioned for future consideration based on community interest. They also stated that they intend to work closely with game publishers and developers, making sure that they're prepared for when big updates are shipped to games and that they would have the appropriate cards and systems built for a seamless viewer experience.
Another avenue that was brought up was esports, widening the reach of the predictions from one player to a whole lobby. While this isn't slated for anytime soon, Noice hopes to adapt their system to provide a one-of-a-kind esports viewing experience.
Right now, Noice is in limited closed beta, with only select streamers and users being able to experience their content.
The Nitty-Gritty
Noice offers a lot for their streamers that would produce content on their platform as soon as now. “Overall, Noice provides streamers with diverse opportunities to monetize their content and create a more interactive and rewarding streaming environment.”
Revenue sharing for Noice partners was revealed to be a 70/30 share for both subscribers and the Creator Cards.
“Noice provides a unique platform for streamers to enhance their overall streaming experience and financial opportunities. Streamers on Noice benefit from better engagement through the platform's innovative card game, where viewers actively play the stream, fostering deeper connections and loyalty within the community,” Noice added. Customizable avatars in fully animated 3D environments allow viewers to express their personality and style, creating a unique sense of community representation.”
Community engagement is also unique for reasons stated in the previous section.
Ads are available on an opt-in basis and will not be shown during streams. Noice will have a clipping feature similar to other popular platforms, but it is currently under development and is not available during the Closed Beta.
Noice is currently under closed beta, with big developments to be expected in 2024.