At this year's TwitchCon, a representative of Twitch responded to the upcoming controversial revenue scheme, which will see payments shift from the current 70/30 split. While there are alternative streaming sites like YouTube that content creators can utilize, the Amazon-owned service is undoubtedly the most popular one in the world, making it the first choice for many would-be streamers. As such, a lot of people have been unhappy with the way the platform will be implementing the new payment scheme, which is likely to leave higher earners with less income.
Twitch consistently makes changes to its website, such as the recent elevated chat feature that allows messages to be pinned to the top for 30 seconds so the broadcaster has a better chance of seeing it. Some changes are met with a positive reaction, though there have also been updates and policy alterations that have left a sour taste in a lot of mouths, and the decision to change the way the company pays its top earners is just one more that many are disputing.
The recent TwitchCon event gave the streaming platform the opportunity to address the upcoming payment scheme, which many users are concerned about. During the convention, which took place in San Diego, chief monetization officer for Twitch, Mike Minton, responded to the reactions regarding the changes, saying that there was no way the company could continue with the 70/30 split. He said that it was simply "not viable" in the long term, before going on to address the fact that Amazon, one of the wealthiest companies in the world, expects the broadcasting site to function as an "independent" business.
The controversy comes from a blog post that went live in September. In it, Twitch announced it would be changing how it splits revenues, specifically for content creators that earn more than $100,000. Once this amount has been earned, the site will split the earnings 50/50 rather than 70/30, and while the majority of streamers are likely to remain under this threshold, there has still been a lot of backlash over the decision, particularly from those who depend on streaming as a viable source of income.
Streaming can potentially be a lucrative career choice, with some creators earning thousands for their content. Most tend to be in it for a bit of fun or to meet new friends. For those who intend to go further by becoming a Twitch partner, for example, the prospect of losing out on revenue is cause for concern. However, it doesn't seem as if the platform is willing to back down on the upcoming changes.
Source: Eurogamer