Twitch has come a long way when it comes to representing itself with original programming, engaging livestreams and a variety of content. Now, it’s got a global brand ambassador on board to help spread awareness.

Daigo “The Beast” Umehara, a fighting game champ that has dominated the Street Fighter scene for years, announced on his stream (http://twitch.tv/daigothebeastv/) this past weekend that he has become Twitch’s first Global Brand Ambassador. Although he will continue to livestream on his channel every week (and continue his partnership with Red Bull), the deal enables him to help expand knowledge and presence of Twitch, particularly with the fighting game community.

Daigo 2“I want to engage with my fans and the players all over the world,” Daigo noted. “Twitch has long been a supporter of the FGC (fighting game community), and I could not find any better platform to engage with the players at the global level.

“As Twitch’s Global Ambassador, I will continue creating entertaining moments with viewers. I hope to be their inspiration as much as they are a big inspiration to me.”

Daigo will be in attendance at this year’s TwitchCon, which takes place September 30th-October 2nd in San Diego, which is a considerably bigger venue than the previous year’s show.

In the meantime, though, the company is putting the focus on the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), which takes place next week in Los Angeles. The company recently revealed its livestreaming schedule for the event, which includes all the major press conferences, as well as an exclusive Nintendo Treehouse event and highlights from the show floor throughout each day. Various gaming talents and hosts will be on hand, including djWHEAT, Jon Carnage and Alex Corea.

E3 2

With the event, Twitch is bringing back its Co-Streaming functionality, which was a big hit with the community last year. It enables users to host their own official E3 streams through their channels so that broadcasters and viewers can both enjoy a more personalized experience of the event. About 35 percent of viewers watched E3 2015 via a Co-Stream, so it’s likely to be just as big a feature this year.

The company has also paired with T-Mobile to host multiple remote Co-Streams around the globe, with partners including RocketBeansTV (Germany), Twitchkr (Korea) and Alexelcapo (Spain), among others. “They will be commentating in their native languages as they interpret and showcase E3 in their respective countries,” the blog notes.

E3 also marks the fifth birthday of Twitch, which initially launched at E3 2011, so it’s easy to see why it’s such a vital event for the company. That, along with the signing of Daigo as Global Brand Ambassador, shows that it’s certainly ready for big things to happen.

To get further insight into Daigo’s signing and E3, we chatted with Twitch’s director of global events Amy Brady.

What makes Daigo such a key choice as a Global Brand Ambassador for Twitch?

Twitch has long been a supporter of the fighting community and he is one of the community’s most popular players, so there was a natural fit. He also wants to strengthen his connection with the community, stating “By sharing my skills and knowledge, I hope to help the entire community to level up. The stronger you are, the more fun you can have.”

Will there be more roles for key talent such as this with the company? 

We are growing very fast and hiring across the company for all levels and positions. Recruiting is actually one of our biggest challenges right now. Employment opportunities are currently listed here.

Twitch has a huge variety of programming planned for E3. How will the team able to balance it all out?

The toughest part about our E3 stage shows is the heavy demand from publishers of all sizes, and not enough time in the day to accommodate everyone. We addressed this a little bit last year by introducing our Day Zero broadcast that kicks off the day before our official Day 1 broadcast. This year we took things to an all-new level with our Pre-Pre-Show which adds another day to the mix.

Is there anything you’d like to expand upon with future E3 shows?

It’s too soon to say if a Pre-Pre-Pre-Show is needed, but based on how so many publishers and developers are amplifying their presence with livestreams, you never know. We’re also quite proud of our “Co-Streaming” initiative in which we essentially give the content to our broadcasters, who can choose to commentate over the official E3 content, should they choose. It’s a way for Twitch broadcasters to bring the real-time content to their communities while wrapping it in a format that makes sense for them.

The second TwitchCon will be hosted in San Diego later this year. With Daigo and a large number of talents expected to attend, what are the team’s expectations for the event?

TwitchCon 2016 will build on our success in 2015, while staying true to its roots: the community. We learned a ton in 2015, and this year will be bigger, better, and even more fun for viewers, broadcasters, and developers alike.