❘ Published: 2022-10-09T22:24:21
❘ Updated: 2022-10-09T22:24:40
After disappointing news that Twitch would no longer offer its top streamers a 70/30 split of subscription revenue, they’ve doubled down on this decision during a live panel at TwitchCon.
In the midst of one of the most drama-filled months in Twitch history, a bit of news left the platform’s community feeling quite downtrodden. On the morning of September 21, Twitch announced it would no longer continue the 70/30 sub-revenue split.
Before then, Twitch’s top creators were offered 70% of the revenue generated by their channel subscriptions. However, the announcement meant the higher split would be discontinued, cutting larger streamers’ revenue by 20% and instilling a 50/50 split for all streamers.
During the opening ceremonies at TwitchCon San Diego, Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear announced that a live Patch Notes panel would touch on the decision to change the revenue split. On Sunday, Twitch used the panel to double down on its unpopular decision.
Twitch claims 70/30 split isn’t feasible
On October 9, Twitch held a live Patch Notes panel during TwitchCon San Diego where Chief Monetization Officer Mike Minton discussed the recent change to subscription revenue.
He started by claiming the goal for Twitch’s monetization team is to continue to grow the overall payout for streamers before getting into the split itself. “Me and my teams are 100% focused on improving your ability to earn income,” Minton stated. “At the end of the day, we are setting a framework for the long term.”
One of the panel mediators asked, “If the goal is to make more money, why aren’t we offering streamers a 70/30 split?”
To this, Minton answered, “We did look at all possible options. Could we offer 70/30 splits widely and broadly? And the answer is no. It simply is not viable for Twitch over the long term, at least as we know things today.”
He explained that Amazon expects Twitch to thrive as an “independent sustainable business”, and immediately plugged Twitch Prime which allows viewers to subscribe for free.
Of course, Minton then doubled down on Twitch’s original reason for increasing the split. “The other factor is the cost of live streaming. It is simply an expensive endeavor to deliver high-definition low-latency globally available video around the internet.”
Minton was then asked how streamers were expected to earn more without a 70/30 split, to which Mike’s slip of the tongue produced a comedic moment in which he ironically referred to it as the “sub rev sh*t”.
“The rev share split is only part of the equation,” Minton stated after composing himself. “It’s really about the broader set of community tools that provide more income opportunities.”
He went on to list Prime subs, community gift subs, Hype Trains, and the ads incentive program as ways streamers can “make more money” from the audiences they already have.
So, as it stands, Twitch is not budging when it comes to the current subscription revenue split.