Twitch President Dan Clancy released a letter on the site’s official blog on September 21st regarding its revenue-sharing program. The streaming platform will be changing its previous 70/30 split for top streamers to an even 50/50 split after their first $100k earned from premium subscriptions. This cut has been scheduled to take effect on June 1st, 2023.
In the blog post, Clancy states that this change is taking place due to the cost of hosting so many streams at the current quality at which they are hosted. Furthermore, it is justified by the numerous other ways streamers can earn revenue, as well as the reduced payout threshold, as explained in the excerpt below:
Twitch’s president explains that the payout threshold is being reduced, and streamers’ revenue has skyrocketed over the years.
Many Twitch streamers, including many of the large and prolific content creators, are responding with negativity towards this news. One of the main complaints about this change is that, because it targets premium subscriptions only, the amount of ads shown for streams will only increase to make up for this loss in revenue. Asmongold, a World of Warcraft streamer with over 3 million followers, tweeted as such on the day of the blog post’s release:
Let's cut the bullshit– excessive ads are killing Twitch.
You go to a stream and it says 1/6 ads played, you go to another tab then come back and the video player has crashed.
Like if you've ever clicked off a stream because of too many ads https://t.co/1LNYc1JJNt
— Zack (@Asmongold) September 21, 2022
Due to these changes, some streamers have started to entertain the idea of moving from Twitch to YouTube to continue streaming. However, some streamers, such as the Destiny content creator FalloutPlays, are worried about the viewer experience changing from the possible switch. In a Tweet, Fallout wonders not just about his viewership numbers, but also about his long-time contributors’ progress rewards:
Those w/ Founders Icons & double-digit sub badges, etc. I don’t want to erase that.
Twitch is no stranger to controversy, such as its banning of highly-prolific content creators and allegations of sexual harassment within its community. However, with so many content creators universally disagreeing with these changes, this case will certainly be a blemish on Twitch’s record.
Source: A Letter from Twitch President Dan Clancy on Subscription Revenue Shares
