Twitch plans on reducing its premium 70/30 revenue split for a lot of its streamers by June 2023. Currently, some streamers are getting a better revenue split because they were “instrumental in helping us build the Twitch we know today,” but it seems that is no longer the case.
A letter from Dan Clancy, Twitch president, was shared on the company’s blog in which he says that the main reason for this change is some context behind exclusive contracts.
The first thing to note is that the change will affect streamers that are already on the 70/30 revenue split, and only once they have earned a total revenue of $100,000. So once a streamer makes that amount, any further revenue they generate will be at the lower 50/50 split.
Twitch confirms the changes to rev split
– starting June 2023, Twitch will not offer a 70/30 split anymore– streamers with a 70/30 split will get a 50/50 split after $100k earnings
They cite video hosting costs as a reason to move away from 70/30https://t.co/eI1I06n6uh pic.twitter.com/2pNQSlK8O6
— Nibel (@Nibellion) September 21, 2022
Why Is Twitch Changing the Revenue Split?
The president of Twitch further explained in the blog that it costs a lot of money to host video streaming services on Twitch. Clancy said that live video costs for a 100 CCU streamer who streams around 200 hours in one month is over $1000 per month.
This was mentioned in the “why not 70/30” subheading of the letter, meaning it is the main reason for moving to the new half split. Clancy said that Twitch will still offer select streamers bespoke contracts with better rates, but that they have been reducing how often these contracts are offered, as well as the value that they deal with.
This news of the pay cut of revenue comes an already intense time for Twitch. Gambling streamer Silker scammed followers out of a massive $200,000. Twitch is banning all gambling websites that are unlicensed.
It seems unlikely that most Twitch streamers will be supportive and understanding of Twitch’s perspective and the new reduced revenue split. But what is certain is that they will not be happy about it, especially the smaller streamers.
