IMPAKT technology
The interaction layer behind IMPAKT, for streamers, game studios, broadcasters and platforms.
IMPAKT is two things: a live streaming platform, and the technology that lets the people watching a stream act inside it. Viewers vote on the next move, back a YES or NO prediction, trigger an action in the game or bid for one, and the game or show applies the result live, on camera. The same layer runs on impaktlive.tv, on top of a Kick or Twitch stream, and inside other companies' games and players.
What the layer does
A game, a show or a streamer opens a round. The audience answers it from wherever they watch. The server counts what everyone asked for and hands the game one tally per tick, so ten thousand viewers asking for the same thing arrive as one number with a count on it. The game stays in charge: viewers send intents, never commands, and the game decides what happens. Every round has a deadline drawn into the video, so the countdown a viewer sees is the one the server enforces, even with several seconds of stream delay.
- Votes: the crowd picks the next move, free to take part.
- Predictions: YES or NO markets on what happens next, with cash out before the result.
- Actions: viewers trigger effects in the game (for example 61 actions in Minecraft), with costs and cooldowns the game sets.
- Auctions and crowd goals: bid for an action, or pool coins until the crowd unlocks it together.
- Sponsored rounds: a brand funds a prediction and the whole audience plays it.
Where it runs
| Surface | How viewers take part |
|---|---|
| impaktlive.tv | The streaming platform: channels, chat and a clickable overlay on the video. A creator goes live with OBS or from the browser studio, and the same stream can go out to Kick at the same time. |
| Kick | Chat commands (!yes, !no) and a live page with the clickable overlay, since Kick has no extensions. |
| Twitch | An IMPAKT Twitch extension (video overlay, panel and mobile view, in testing) and a chat bot. |
| OBS | A browser source draws the round on any stream; viewers answer from chat or a phone companion. |
| Your own game or player | Two WebSocket connections: one from your game server, one from your viewers, carrying a token your backend signs. |
Games it reads
Rounds can settle themselves from the game: IMPAKT Link, a small app on the streamer's computer, reads Minecraft, League of Legends, Valorant and World of Warcraft, and Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 send their state through Valve's Game State Integration. Casino streams settle from the casino's own feed, and studios connect any game through the protocol.
Integrating it
Everything is JSON over WebSocket, one object per frame. Your game connects server to server with a shared secret, sends its catalog of actions, then receives one batch of counted intent per tick and opens and settles rounds as it likes. Viewers arrive with a short lived token your backend minted; IMPAKT reads an opaque id and a display name from it and nothing else. No account is created, and no email, address, payment detail or IP address is stored for a partner's viewers. The full protocol, security notes, latency figures and a pilot plan are in the developer documentation.
Scale, measured
One server process held 16,337 viewers acting about once a second each, with a p95 of 37 ms from a tap to its confirmation and no refused intents. The tally reaches the game within one 250 ms tick at every crowd size, because batches grow with the crowd instead of queueing. These are server figures measured without network; real latency adds the round trip to each viewer. Latency and scale.
Questions
Is IMPAKT a streaming platform or a technology?
Both. impaktlive.tv is a live streaming platform where creators go live and viewers play along. The interaction layer that powers it also runs on Kick, Twitch and OBS streams, and inside other companies' games and video players.
Can I add IMPAKT to my own game or platform?
Yes. Studios, broadcasters and platforms connect through two WebSocket connections and keep their own users and currency. Start with the integration overview, or write to ethan@impaktlive.tv for a pilot.
How many viewers can interact at the same time?
16,337 viewers interacting at once were measured on a single server process, with a p95 confirmation time of 37 ms.
Which games does it work with?
Minecraft, League of Legends, Valorant, World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 out of the box, casino streams through the casino's feed, and any game a studio connects through the protocol.
Do viewers need an IMPAKT account?
No. Voting is free without an account. Inside a partner's product, viewers take part with the account they already have there.
More about IMPAKT: About Work with us What is crowdplay For streamers Become a creator Developer docs Press kit