Although still the world's number one streaming platform, Twitch has been receiving a lot of backlash lately, mostly from the community over the recent "hate raid" scandal. On top of that, some big streamers such as Dr Lupo and TimTheTatMan have left the site, having been given new contracts on YouTube. There are likely multiple reasons as to why popular content creators are jumping ship, however, recent developments suggest that the streaming service may be losing people due to the company offering less money than it used to.
In a report on the Washington Post website, former Twitch employees, who wished to remain anonymous to the source, have stated that the reason many top-rated users are leaving the platform has to do with the company paying less to streamers than it has done in the past, even for the same amount of work being done. For this reason, people like Dr Lupo are being enticed into better contracts, which is why they are leaving Twitch to join YouTube. According to the report, these changes to how much the company pays are intentional, and is to do with the way it structures contracts when it comes to exclusive stream content.
According to an attorney who represents Twitch streamers, these developments are not suggesting that there aren't any "lucrative deals" being offered to content creators, just that, in their experience, the company is not offering as much as it once was. No actual figures have been mentioned, so it's difficult to know exactly how much less streamers are being paid these days. However, users such as Lirik and TimTheTatMan signed Twitch contracts that were likely worth millions per year, back in 2019.
While the streaming platform is still pulling in millions of users each month, even with big names leaving, it has been the subject of much controversy recently. With the "hate raid" fiasco causing distress among the community and those who are broadcasting, it seems as though the company has taken action recently. A couple of days ago, Twitch said it was suing two people who instigated hate raids, citing a breach of its terms and conditions.
Twitch also sent out an email to streamers affected by these raids. However, it's likely that the damage had already been done at this point. With the negative press Twitch is currently getting from the controversy, and the fact that previous employees are coming forward to confirm that content creators are being paid less, it's not looking good for the platform, and it's probably not surprising that many are abandoning it for alternatives.
Source: Washington Post