Twitch is going back to giving some streamers a 70/30 revenue split.
For those not up to speed on this whole deal, here’s a quick tl;dr: Last year, Twitch decided it wanted to take more of streamers’ income for itself.
Here’s a longer explanation: Before last September, Twitch took a 30% cut of the money Partner streamers (who signed exclusive contracts agreeing to only stream on its platform) made from things like channel subscriptions, with streamers taking home the other 70%. Affiliate streamers, who were associated with Twitch but didn’t have exclusive contracts, had a 50/50 split.
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Starting in September, Twitch dropped everyone to a 50/50 split. It attempted a tradeoff with Partners by relaxing the exclusivity clause and allowing them to stream (but not simulcast) on other platforms, and also promised to try and improve its dismal discoverability offerings. But many streamers were not appeased, and rival platforms like Kick and Rumble saw an influx of creators and viewers.
Now, Twitch is putting a 70/30 split back on the table with a new Partner Plus program.
The program is only open to streamers who meet strict qualification criteria, and will only pay out 70% of revenue up to $100,000. After streamers hit $100,000 in revenue, their split goes back down to 50/50.
Here’s the criteria, according to Twitch:
“Streamers in the Partner Plus program will receive a 70/30 revenue share on net subscription revenue (revenue from recurring monthly subscriptions and gift subs), for 12 months up to US$100K. To qualify, Partners must maintain a sub count of at least 350 recurring paid subscriptions for three consecutive months. Once that happens, Partners will be automatically enrolled for the next 12 months, even if you dip below the subscription threshold during the 12-month period.”
By “recurring paid subscriptions,” Twitch means paid channel subscriptions that viewers individually buy for themselves at $4.99 per month. Prime subscriptions, where Amazon Prime subscribers get one free Twitch channel sub per month, do not count toward the 350 requirement. Bafflingly, gift subs also do not count, so viewers can’t contribute subs to their favorite streamer to help them hit Partner Plus status.
The program launches on Oct. 1, 2023, meaning streamers must have >350 paid subscriptions in July, August, and September to enroll.
Twitch apparently created the program with consultation from ambassador streamers:
Ambassadors were part of discussions leading up to this, and while it’s not perfect, it’s a start — A START — to what I hope will be a path that changes the platform for the better, and I hope this shows Twitch (and its execs) that 70/30 is better for EVERYONE. https://t.co/aO8PyKuzpM
— Jambo (@PlayWithJambo) June 15, 2023
But there’s also been criticism from streamers who say the 350 subs goal is “unobtainable,” and that having to re-hit the target every single year will be a strain for creators:
Economically unless you’re sitting at around 1k viewers or more this is so unobtainable right now based of off individual and reoccurring subs, not gifted and not prime. People cannot afford to sub, people are canceling their subs due to financial reasons and this doesn’t help…
— Paladin (@PaladinAmber) June 15, 2023
Brandon Freytag, chief of creator monetization at gaming management/advisory firm Loaded, tells Tubefilter that the new program “feels like a positive step in a lot of ways, and it’s great to see Twitch making changes like this to help support the ‘middle class’ of streamers on the platform. There was a lot of concern when they signaled a move from 70/30 to 50/50 revenue splits, and so a change like this will support a sector of creators who are a crucial component of the ecosystem, and likely its future stars.”
But, Freytag adds, there’s also concerns about how effective it will be in practice.
“I think there are more questions than answers, right now,” he says. “Will [creators] stop promoting Twitch Prime and gifted subs since they don’t count towards the thresholds? Will they slow down on pushing subscribers after they achieve the $100k worth of sub revenue in a given year? Will the audience feel different after a creator hits 100k, and stop subscribing?”
“I think people are reacting to the fact that just recently it was way less confusing to monetize your audience as a creator on Twitch,” he says. “There was a 70/30 split on sub revenue for everyone with no cap. It was fairly straightforward. Looking at the new structure, it looks kind of like Twitch is giving creators an accounting challenge in figuring out what does and doesn’t count towards their revenue thresholds. Hopefully this benefits creators, long term, but we expect that lots of creators will just wish it was as simple as it used to be.”
