Twitch to Increase Revenue Share for Lower-Viewership Streamers

Livestreamers on Twitch will now have a greater incentive to expand their audiences, as the platform is introducing a Partner Plus program. This program will offer more successful creators a 70 percent share of their net subscription revenue, up from the usual 50 percent, up to a maximum of $100,000 per year. To qualify, a partner must maintain at least 350 recurring paid subscriptions for three months, excluding gifts and Prime subscriptions. If they meet this requirement, they will receive the 70 percent cut for the next 12 months, regardless of whether they maintain the 350-subscription threshold. This benefit can continue indefinitely.

Partner Plus will be released on 1 October, and it automatically includes everyone who meets the requirements for the previous three months. The program is available worldwide and does not offer anything beyond what Premium Partners (major content creators who have negotiated special offers) receive.

This effort comes months after Twitch announced plans to impose the same cap on Premium Partners. Twitch’s then-president (now CEO) Dan Clancy claimed in September that 90% of eligible streamers would not be affected and that increased Advertising Fees would help make up the difference. However, this may still annoy the big streamers who depend on Twitch for a living – they’re effectively taking a pay cut. There is a risk that this could lead other streamers to move to YouTube and other platforms if they get more lucrative terms.

Not that Twitch is necessarily concerned. Partner Plus adds hands-on income to many more streamers than Premium and encourages them to stick with the service – especially if they’re in the early stages of their live streaming career. This theoretically increases the total number of channels available and prevents viewers from drifting to competitors.

Twitch has faced difficulties in recent months, including a setback in the distribution of Premium revenue and the impact of mass layoffs at parent company Amazon. Partner Plus isn’t guaranteed to solve things, but it does suggest that Twitch is willing to significantly change its strategy in response to these issues.