Twitch is the biggest name in live-streaming. Launched in June 2011, Twitch quickly became the go-to home for video game streamers, growing to tens of millions of monthly viewers within just a few years. Amazon acquired the company in 2014, offering the commerce giant a powerful competitor to YouTube, with an audience the Google-owned video platform has struggled to reach. Twitch is best known for being home to Fortnite streamers like Ninja and Tfue; e-sports like Overwatch and League of Legends; and new phenomena, including Grand Theft Auto V role-playing. It’s also expanded beyond games to include activities like social eating and musical performances.
Instead of a suspension completely stopping you from accessing any part of Twitch, which has historically been the case, users will now only lose access to specific features for minor infractions. To start, there will be streaming suspensions and chatting suspensions.
Starting today in the US, “we’re giving all streamers access to some of our best monetization and community building tools including Bits, subs, emotes, badges, and Channel Points,” Twitch says. Twitch is also making it easier to reach Affiliate status, which opens up additional streaming features.
[blog.twitch.tv]
According to a legal filing X is willing to drop Twitch from its antitrust lawsuit accusing advertisers of an “illegal boycott,” but only if Twitch meets “certain conditions” by the end of the year — though it hasn’t said what those are. Amazon-owned Twitch wasn’t one of the initial companies X sued, but was added at a later date. It’s not the first to get out either — Unilever was dropped from the suit in October 2024.
Sometime this year, Twitch is going to open up monetization tools, including subscriptions and bits, “to most streamers, from day one,” according to an open letter from CEO Dan Clancy.
The change means you won’t need to reach affiliate status, which has some streaming and follower requirements, to be able monetize, spokesperson Ashton Williams tells The Verge.
[blog.twitch.tv]
As part of an update to its enforcement system, Twitch announced that smaller violations will now expire in 90 days, while higher severity violations, such as hateful conduct, will expire after one to two years.
Twitch is also taking a tougher stance on users who repeatedly violate its policies. It will now increase the length of a user’s suspension each time they break the same rule within a violation’s expiration window.
[safety.twitch.tv]
Six months ago, YouTube demonetized game streamer Guy Beahm, aka Dr Disrespect, after he confirmed reports about why his Twitch channel was banned in 2020. In a now-deleted post, he wrote:
Were there twitch whisper messages with an individual minor back in 2017? The answer is yes.
Now, on the same day the game studio he co-founded before it cut ties with him last summer announced it’s shutting down, Kotaku reports that Beahm informed his viewers YouTube re-enabled monetization. The 10,000 ‘Founders Access’ NFT passes Beahm and Midnight Studios sold for their game Deadrop weren’t mentioned.
The livestreaming platform announced that this week, every channel will get the ability to edit and share clips straight to Instagram.
How useful that is for Twitch’s gaming-focused creators is up for debate, but with TikTok’s future in question, adding Instagram to the mix seems sensible.
After calls for Twitch to address antisemitism on the platform, the site’s hateful conduct policy now includes “Zionist” as a potential slur. Twitch specifies this is conditional: you’re allowed to discuss the political movement of that name, but not “attack or demean another individual or group of people on the basis of their background or religious belief.”
[safety.twitch.tv]
Twitch has added a new content classification label for “politics and sensitive social issues.” The addition comes days before the US presidential election day but long after a number of streamers have gotten in trouble for their commentary on the war in Israel and Lebanon. The new label is required for streams that discuss topics such as, “elections, civic integrity, and war or military conflict.”
[safety.twitch.tv]
Governor Tim Walz just found time to make some CUH-RAZY MONEY during his Twitch stream with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He picked Axel, which surprised me; I definitely had him pegged as a Gus guy.
They never did finish their Madden match, but AOC says she’s hoping to start streaming regularly.
The Twitch Madden matchup between Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Buffalo Bills and Governor Tim Walz’s Minnesota Vikings just went into half-time.
Neither has scored yet. Walz got the first drive, but punted on the fourth down. AOC didn’t make it to the end-zone either, but picked an interception during Walz’s second drive.
While streaming on Twitch, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she’s tried to get the former Presidential candidate on board joining her for a stream.
VP candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz hasn’t arrived yet, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to watch; AOC is playing Stardew Valley and, as I write this, discussing the importance of Social Security.
She’ll play the game with Tim Walz on a Twitch stream that kicks off at 3PM ET on Sunday.
Asmongold apologized for his racist comments regarding Palestinians, revealing that streaming culture has made him a ‘psychopathic version’ of himself.
Twitch reports it blocked new email-verified accounts in Israel and Palestine in the wake of the October 7th attacks... but forgot to remove the block, and only did so after an inquiry by 404 Media. New accounts verified with a phone number still worked, and Twitch’s apology / explanation for the oversight says it disabled the feature to prevent graphic imagery from appearing on the site.
The streaming platform is testing a prompt that encourages you to pause before sending a chat message that might be offensive. (It sounds kind of like the prompts that Twitter developed.)
Just don’t go posting the message Twitch used as an example.
Byron Bernstein had six livestreamed conversations with Alok Kanojia, a psychiatrist. Then Bernstein died by suicide. Were those conversations ethical?
[The New York Times]
Streamers will be able to drop in on each other with Stream Together, clips are getting a more optimized creation flow, and the platform’s enhanced broadcasting feature will soon be available for all streamers to try, among other things.
Twitch is also making a “Streamer Achievement Program. Streamers will get statues after their channel reaches certain milestones for hours watched.
Per a Rolling Stone report with more details about the ban:
YouTube’s former global head of gaming partnerships at Google, Ryan Wyatt, confirmed to Rolling Stone that Beahm was not offered a contract due to chatter about the circumstances of his Twitch ban. He says that a Twitch employee and journalists investigating the incident told YouTube employees that it involved inappropriate messages to a minor.
