Twitch announces a new program to help streamers make more money

Shortly after making a move that angered many of its users, livestreaming service Twitch is seeking a little redemption with a new program designed to help its streamers make more money. But it may not make as big of an impact as advertised.

At present, most Twitch streamers get a 50/50 split of their revenue from streaming, with half of it going to the creator and the other half of it going to the platform. But under a new Partner Plus program starting in October, streamers who have at least 350 recurring paid subscriptions (not including Twitch Prime or gift subscriptions) for a period of three consecutive months will be eligible for a bump to a 70/30 split — up to $100,000. 

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Once that three-month goal is met and the increased split activated, it's good for 12 months, regardless of whether or not the streamer stays above the 350 subscription mark.

While the Partner Plus revenue change begins in October, the subscriber tracking begins in July. So streamers who hit the subscriber mark in July, August, and September should receive their eligibility notice the following month.

However, there are several things worth noting. 

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First, according to a Tweet from StreamCharts, a streaming analytics service, out of more than 42,000 active Twitch partners, only 1,000 currently have the required amount of subscriptions to be eligible for Partner Plus. That's just 2.5% of streamers. 

Second, even Twitch's increased 70/30 revenue share only matches that of YouTube and falls well behind that of upstart rival Kick, which offers a 95/5 split. And both of those are for all streamers, with no subscription requirements.

This announcement comes on the heels of somewhat of a firestorm for Twitch. Last week, the company announced new rules for how streamers can display ads, and this significantly impacted their ability to earn revenue. 

A large number of streamers took to social media to decry the move. Even YouTube megastar Mr. Beast, who doesn't stream on Twitch, said he wanted to stream on a rival service just to spite them. 

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The livestreaming giant walked back those new rules the very next day, saying, “These guidelines are bad for you and bad for Twitch, and we are removing them immediately.”

While Twitch is still the biggest name in video game livestreaming by far, several new options are available. And while it's probably not fair to say Twitch is feeling major pressure from these alternatives yet, it's clear they're at least aware they need to adapt.