Twitch, the livestreaming service owned by Amazon, had planned to limit the size and type of ads that streamers could use, which would have significantly impacted their ability to earn money on the platform.
However, after facing backlash from prominent creators who threatened to boycott the platform and move to other services, Twitch has announced that it will revise the policy.
Twitch apologizes: “Today’s branded-content policy update was overly broad,” in a tweet viewed 17.6 million times.
“This created confusion and frustration – and we apologize for that. Twitch apologizes.
“We do not intend to limit streamers’ ability to enter into direct relationships with sponsors – and we understand that this is an important part of how streamers earn revenue.”
Despite the initial update, UK streamer Marco, who goes by the name Stallion online, informed BBC News that he would still be departing from Twitch.
“This is the push that I needed to get me off this platform,” he said.
“This has been something that’s been in my mind for the last two years… the problem with Twitch is it has next to no discoverability – it’s one of those platforms where if you’re not already at the top, you’re not going to be.
“I get it that it’s a business, but it’s like there’s no thought about the people who are on the platform… it just feels like it’s all about the money now and nothing to do with us.”
Under the new regulations, streamers would be restrained from embedding advertisements, audio or video, at once into their streams. In addition, the scale of logos would be constrained to 3% of the screen.
Typically, streamers embed advertisements to make sure visibility and get hold of 50% of the sales Twitch collects from subscribers.
However, the platform does not receive any revenue from streamers’ advertisements or donations. In comparison, YouTubers receive 70% of subscription revenue, but the platform takes a 30% reduce of fan donations.
The recent changes in regulations have raised concerns for charity events like Games Done Quick, which raised $2.2m for Doctors Without Borders in June. The event heavily relies on logos that occupy a significant portion of the screen. It’s unclear which of the new rules will be revised, but the impact has already been felt by some.
“There’s no thought about the people who are on the platform, whether they depend on it for their livelihood or not” Stallion said.
“This is a move I should have made years ago – but it’s one that I’ve honestly been very scared to make because it’s my full-time career.
“Long term, this is going to be the best thing for me.”
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