Photo credit: Twitch
As major streamers exit the platform, Twitch introduces new monetization features. Introducing hype chats – or YouTube super chats with a worse revenue split.
YouTube first announced its Super Chats feature in 2017, and Twitch has decided to “gentle” borrow the feature for its own platform. Streamers can set minimum and maximum values for these pinnable chats, which are designed for fast chats from streamers with many followers.
“Higher value hype chats stay at the top of the chat longer, have a longer character limit, and have more outstanding designs,” according to Twitch says when describing the benefits of the new feature in his blog post. The feature is currently only available on the web version, but a mobile version is likely to follow. So what is the revenue split?
Twitch offers a 70/30 revenue split on hype chats at a 5% net payment cost. YouTube currently covers transaction costs as part of revenue sharing with its streamers, leading many to remain unhappy with Twitch’s monetization practices. Twitch says the new hype chats cannot be turned off, only unmotivated by setting a large amount ($500 max).
As it stands, the YouTube platform offers a far more appealing general audience for people looking to live stream music, music creation, DJ or other forms of live entertainment. Twitch may not only have opened up to gamers during the pandemic, but gamers are also now fleeing the platform. Top Twitch streamers xQc and Amouranth have both left the platform for rising rival Kick.
Kick Felix “xQc” Lengyel reportedly offered a $100 million deal to stream it to his fan base on the platform. Amouranth’s whirlpool streams necessitated a “whirlpool streaming” category on Twitch — and now it’s leaving the company, too. Although the terms of their deals have not been disclosed, we’ve previously seen big stars exit the platform to complete lucrative cash deals. At the peak of his popularity, Ninja left Twitch for Mixer, and now he continues to stream kick.