Twitch Enacts Policy To Further Restrict Gambling Content On Its Site

Twitch Enacts Policy To Further Restrict Gambling Content On Its Site

Twitch has taken another step in a direction to better protect its users of the site by only allowing licensed iGaming content to be streamed on the site. The new effort will ban users from streaming content from any online casino, sportsbook, or poker site that isn’t registered in the US. 

The online live broadcast company is well known for its streams of people playing video games. Online casino gaming is just one of the dozens of types of streams found on Twitch. Now, visitors can watch concerts, talk shows, and board game reviews, to name a few.

Many industry leaders have called the policy a step in the right direction for Amazon, the parent company of Twitch. Amazon purchased Twitch back in 2014 for $970 million. 

Popular illegal gambling sites that have been popular on the site, and mentioned by Twitch during their announcement (site link), include, Stake.com, Rollbit.com, Duelbits.com, and Roobet.com. 

The new policy will go into effect next month according to representatives from Twitch. 

Another decision made by Twitch back in August of last year was when the company also banned referral codes or sharing links on accounts with gambling content. Twitch recently explained via its Twitter account that users of the site were breaking the rules and still sharing links or referral codes for gambling content. 

The post on its Twitter account read, “While we prohibit sharing links or referral codes to all sites that include slots, roulette, or dice games, we’ve seen some people circumvent those rules and expose our community to potential harm.”

Strict rules may lead to competitors in online streaming

Last Wednesday, Amazon also announced changes to its revenue sharing that members agree to when signing up for a Twitch premium account. Now users of the site generating the most will have to share even more with Twitch. 

Under the new terms, streamers will keep 70% of their subscription revenue generated on the site, with the other 30% going to Twitch (Amazon). Once the streamer generates $100,000 in revenue on the site, they’re required to split 50/50 of all revenue with Twitch. The new policy will go into effect in June 2023.

The steep terms may lead to further growth among other websites offering live broadcasting. Currently, the majority of online streaming happens on Twitch. In fact, it’s the largest live streaming platform in the world. Companies like Youtube Gaming and Facebook Gaming have streaming options on their sites, but the platforms just don’t have the audience for many streamers to make the switch. Twitch is still leagues ahead of its competitors. 

According to Streamers Playbook, Twitch has a monthly viewer count of 15 million, with 3 million people streaming monthly. Compared to Youtube, with around 700k live stream viewers a month, far less than even stream on Twitch’s platform. 

But YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming are growing in popularity. Twitch’s competitors could see the strict policies as a way to have a competitive edge over Twitch, making their cut a smaller portion of streamers funds.

Many players that were previously on Twitch have already left the platform, according to an article by gamerant.com. With the recent decision to ban all illegal gambling content on the site, along with the less money available for streamers, we’ll likely see many content creators looking for a new place to host their content.

Mac Daniel is a Michigan native and freelance writer for PlayOnlineCasino and PlayOnlineSportsBetting. He has experience writing about a wide variety of topics, including healthcare, tourism, non-profit organizations, and most recently casino and sportsbetting news. To check out more of his work, visit: playonlinemichigan.com