Twitch reportedly changing how it pays content creators

Twitch, one of the biggest streaming platforms on the planet, is looking to alter how the most popular streamers are paid, according to a report by Bloomberg today.

The changes will be made in an effort to boost its profits, but this could lead to Twitch also losing some of its streaming stars. The Amazon-owned platform is considering offering incentives for streamers to run more ads, which would reduce the number of subscription fees distributed among the heavy-hitter content creators that are currently partnered with Twitch, anonymous sources told Bloomberg.

The changes on Twitch’s monetization system could be arriving this summer. Twitch is thinking about reducing the revenue cut of subscriptions granted to the biggest streamers on the platform to 50 percent from 70 percent.

Another option Twitch is considering is to introduce multiple tiers and create criteria for how content creators will qualify for each one. In exchange for this deal, Twitch may offer to release partners from the current exclusivity restrictions that are in place for partnered streamers, which would allow these people to stream on other platforms such as Facebook and YouTube Gaming. The updates to the partnership programs have not been finalized and could end up being dropped, according to Bloomberg.

The content creators partnered with Twitch earn money through subscriptions and donations and receive a fee for running ads on their channel. That fee varies from $3.50 to $5 for 1,000 ad impressions depending on the streamers’ location. This deal has not been changed in years.

Should Twitch decide to implement these changes to its partnership program, it would come at a time when YouTube is becoming more and more competitive. The Google-owned platform has poached several top content creators from Twitch in the past months, including Timthetatman and DrLupo.