Popular video game streaming service Twitch announced that the Curse App will be rebranded as Twitch Desktop App. The app will act as a communication tool, integrated as a natural extension to Twitch’s main platform.

The Twitch Desktop App features community servers, voice/video messaging, and game content distribution to bring together a unified communication tool for the Twitch community. Twitch believes this will benefit both streamers and followers, as the communities can continue to interact even when the streamer is offline. The public beta for the Twitch Desktop App will be available on March 16 and can be downloaded here.

Existing Curse App users will receive a newly-branded Twitch Desktop App with the following features:

• Servers: A community’s home base — complete with Twitch streams and chat.
• Friends: Connect with gaming friends from across the internet.
• Whispers: Twitch’s private chat messaging which works across the Twitch platform and the Twitch Desktop App.
• Voice and Video Calls: One click voice and video calls.
• Addons: Game addons and mods that automatically update.
• Game Commerce: Download games purchases fulfilled by Twitch when the sales program launches this spring.
• Activity Sharing: See when your friends are streaming, watching a stream or playing a game on both platforms.

“Since the Twitch community thrives on building solid and meaningful connections with each other, we have been hard at work building products that address this need,” said Emmett Shear, CEO, Twitch. “The Twitch Desktop App–which features all of the elements people love about the Curse app, such as screen sharing, voice and video calling, and community server creation–is now bolstered by Twitch features. This includes Friends, Whispers, activity sharing, and will soon serve as a game library for purchases fulfilled by Twitch. The result is a one-stop shop for connecting members of our community.”