Twitch Address 50/50 Sub Split

The controversial 50/50 sub split on the platform has been addressed by Twitch’s chief product officer Tom Verrilli and chief monetization officer Mike Minton. They also discussed how they intend to make Twitch the greatest destination for streamers despite competitors providing considerably greater splits.

The livestreaming industry has had a tumultuous start to the year, with upstart platform Kick gaining some traction but also embroiled in controversy over its affiliation with gambling website Stake and the application of community guidelines. Kick’s 95/5 sub split, which is superior to Twitch’s 50/50 split, is one of its main draws for broadcasters. Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, is still committed to this strategy, and two of its officers have made it clear why. 

Minton recognized the criticism of the 50/50 split from streamers in an interview with The Verge. Minton said; “There certainly was loud conversations within the community in terms of their feedback and reception. We talked a lot about how we’re in this together, and part of that is innovation. We are committed to continuing to improve our monetization products and building new monetization products, and at the end of the day, we are committed to increasing the amount of money a streamer earns.”

Twitch is reportedly focused on making Twitch overall a more lucrative environment to stream through product improvements and sponsorships for streamers rather than simply choosing a higher sub split, like YouTube’s 70/30 split. The ad reward program was one instance cited by Minton. As long as they stream for a predetermined number of hours and run a predetermined number of adverts, streamers will receive a pre-agreed remuneration.

“The acceptance and engagement on the ad incentive program far exceeded our expectations. So streamers are clearly seeing the value in running ads now.”

Tom Virelli, chief product officer, stated that helping streamers expand their networks is the main goal. Virelli said; “We want to make it easier for creators to take their amazing Twitch content and distribute it. But we also need to take more responsibility for delivering viewers straight to streamers while they are on Twitch.”

Virelli makes a reference to the upcoming film “Guest Star.” The Verge described this feature as “an integrated tool that allows streamers to seamlessly showcase other creators or their audience in a livestream,” but it’s unclear exactly what it is, according to Virelli, who believes it to be the “next evolution” of Twitch chat. Some streamers have already left Twitch for pastures new due to the blatant refusal to increase subscription splits, but if Twitch can actually make the platform the most lucrative location to stream through these other techniques, it may still be able to hold onto its livestreaming throne.