Twitch is a weird company to me. While I get why it exists, the way it tries to balance making money and paying creators just feels off. As someone who streams and has the potential to make money on Twitch, I’d rather not and have supporters contribute directly. I’m not one for ads and don’t want to make those who are tuning in have to suffer through them. But there are people who would rather go through Twitch. For those people, this news is for you.
Today, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy took to the blog to discuss changes that are happening to monetization on the platform.
Twitch ending $100,000 cap
At a certain point, many of the higher earners would have lost some incentive to keep these going. That’s because a $100,000 cap was placed on streamers who were receiving a 70/30 split from Twitch. After they hit that threshold, the split evened out at 50/50. This may have caused some streamers even to look elsewhere to keep the money rolling in.
We are removing the US$100K cap on net revenue at the 70 / 30 revenue share level for all streamers, including those in the Partner Plus Program, effective immediately.”
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy
Clancy noted that the cap “served as a disincentive” for the money makers. However, to call this method a penalty doesn’t sound completely fair. I only learned today that there was a $100,000 cap. If I made $100,000 on Twitch, I wouldn’t really be complaining that much. Also, as a company that just had to let people go and just admitted they aren’t profitable, this move seems a bit counterintuitive.
Partner Plus changes
Twitch is changing how its Partner Plus system works. Right now, if you have 350 subscribers, you will automatically become eligible for a 70/30 split. This will be enabled for 12 months even if you drop below 350.
They have now introduced a points system that works as follows:
| Tier 1 Sub ($4.99) | 1 Point |
| Tier 2 Sub ($9.99) | 2 Points |
| Tier 3 Sub ($24.99) | 6 Points |
On top of that, they have added a lower tier that kicks in at 100 points that guarantees a 60/40 split. The new system looks like this:
| Partner Plus Program Level | Revenue Share | Threshold |
| Level 1 | 60/40 | 100 Plus Points |
| Level 2 | 70/30 | 300 Plus Points |
Clancy says that this new system will bring in 3 times as many creators as the old system did. This system will start in May.
Prime Gaming sub changes
But as Twitch dangles the carrot, here comes the stick.
For those who have Amazon Prime, you may or may not know that you get a free Twitch sub. A lot of folks who really don’t care about Twitch may have tossed a sub to their friend to help them out.
These subs worked just like regular subs where they were split according to the revenue split that Twitch gave you.
Starting on June 3rd, that’s changing. Prime Gaming subs will now be a flat rate based on the creator’s country. In the US, Twitch prime subs will net you $2.25 instead of $2.50. You can find out what that looks like in your country here.
Now while they may not look like a lot, 4 of those now net a creator a dollar less than they’d be getting now.
So, to wrap up, it looks like Twitch is looking out for those who generate the most income for the platform while pushing off the rest. It sounds similar to what Spotify is doing with smaller creators. To be fair, it almost sounds like capitalism. While the wealthy get more, the folks on the bottom get less and less.
It really shouldn’t be a surprise nobody has money for anything nowadays.
Source: The Verge
