During a Patch Notes stream, Twitch’s Head of Community and Senior Producer addressed concerns from a chatter asking why the platform isn’t a “gaming website anymore.”
Twitch is best known for its origins as a place to stream video games. Over the years, it has evolved to include a wide swath of content, such as Just Chatting streams, travel broadcasts, and more.
In fact, Just Chatting is one of the top categories on the website… but this influx of streamers talking to their fans face-to-face without playing games has sparked concern from some viewers.
In fact, one such viewer brought up the subject during an October 16 Patch Notes stream, where Twitch’s Head of Community, ‘merrykish,’ and Senior Producer, ‘ZachariusD,’ answered questions from users.
While Just Chatting is one of Twitch’s most popular categories, it’s swallowed by a wealth of gaming streams.
“Why is Twitch no longer a gaming site?” one viewer asked.
“I would say Twitch actually is a gaming website,” Kish replied. “[There is] a massive amount of gaming on Twitch. But our number one category from the last three years now has been Just Chatting.
“That actually says something about the website, and about you and about the viewers that enjoy this place. The community actually tells us what’s the most popular and valid thing to do on Twitch.
“…gaming will always be our bread and butter. It’s the most incredible thing that we have on this service. That there’s an interest in just watching people talk and hanging out with them. The fact that Just Chatting is so popular tells us that people wanna watch things outside games, and that’s great, and we’ll support that as much as we can, in addition to all the awesome games you like watching.”
Responses to Kish’s answer were mixed, with some viewers agreeing with her, while others decried the Just Chatting category for containing content that might not be suitable for younger audiences, such as hot tub streams or the next controversial ‘meta.’
Twitch does boast protections for viewers under 18, such as allowing streamers to add content classification labels to their broadcasts and an attire policy they pointed out in a recent Enforcement Notes feature.
Twitch’s spokespersons also stated that a forthcoming stream should clarify the aforementioned attire policy for VTubers, who felt targeted by the Enforcement Note. Twitch, for its part, says the rules apply to both IRL streamers and their digital counterparts.