Twitch’s most subscribed streaming operators will be paid significantly less from 2023

Twitch has announced an important change that primarily affects the most popular streaming operators.

Generally, people who stream on Twitch pay a 50% commission on their bottom line on the platform. But the top 10% of operators have a much more advantageous deal that allows them to enjoy 70% of their subscription revenue, and pay a commission to Twitch of only 30%.

A little over a year ago, Twitch stopped offering premium deals to those who don’t already have these terms. and in open letter Posted on Wednesday, Dan Clancy, head of the platform, announced that these deals will total $100,000 starting in June of next year:

What we will do, for those who continue to get these premium deals, is adjust their deals so that they continue to receive a 70/30 revenue sharing ratio for the first $100,000 they earn through revenue stream and subscriptions. Revenue over $100,000 will be split using the standard commission 50/50. We’re announcing this change now, but it won’t take effect until after June 1, 2023.

Twitch admits the distribution has been unfair:

First of all, we have not been transparent about the existence of such agreements. Secondly, we were not consistent across the board with the necessary requirements, and generally the best players were the ones who benefited. Finally, we don’t think it’s right for those with standard contracts to have different commissions depending on the size of the streaming device.

However, big streamers were essential to Twitch’s growth, and now they’ll see their incomes drop dramatically (given that they make over $100,000 a year).

How does the company justify this? First, by arguing that features like Prime, Community Giveaways, Hype Train, and the Ad Incentive Program have boosted viewer-per-viewed-hour revenue by 27% over the past five years, which means they are now making three times more money than they did five years ago. . Twitch pays stream creators the same for a Prime subscription as it does for a regular subscription, although it’s free for Amazon Prime subscribers.

Second, Twitch claims that their service costs quite a bit, at around $1,000 per month per streaming device with 100 concurrent viewers broadcasting 200 hours per month.

Will the Amazon subsidiary succeed in convincing creators or will this be the final straw for them to go to YouTube?