In a blog post this morning, Twitch confirmed upcoming changes to channel subscriptions which were first revealed in an email leaked late Monday. Today’s announcement confirmed the addition of two new subscription tiers for viewers, including $9.99 and $24.99 per month options to allow viewers to show more support for their favorite streams, and allow streamers to reward their most loyal subscribers with dedicated perks, such as special emotes.
Along with the addition of the new subscription options, Twitch is revamping the emote system to allow partners to unlock slots for their channel faster. Under the new system, partners will start with two emote slots and unlock an additional slot starting every ten subscribers, with the gap between unlocks gradually increasing to 400 per step for channels with 5,000 or more total subscribers. On top of faster emote unlocks, emote slots will be permanently unlocked once partners reach subscription milestones, meaning partners can keep the emote slots they earn and freely change emotes even if their subscriber count drops.
Subscriptions at the new $9.99 and $24.99 tiers will count as 2 and 6 subscriptions respectively towards these new milestones, and each of these tiers also includes an exclusive emote for viewers subscribed at or above that tier. Amazon Prime members will continue to receive the one free subscription per 30 days at the $4.99 level, and all subs at that level will continue to count as one subscription for the channel.
Mixed Reactions from the Community
Reactions throughout the Twitch community have been mixed since Monday’s leak. While many are excited about the new tiers, some users took to Reddit and Twitter today to express their frustration with the new system.
Several Reddit users expressed concern that it might lead to subscribers at lower tiers feeling less important than others. Others have expressed concern that current subscriber benefits may be locked to higher tier subscriptions causing those who are choose not to subscribe at a higher level to feel left out of a part of that community. A few have even said that they feel that the jump from $9.99 to $24.99 is too steep for most viewers, and that the tier should have been priced lower.
However, not all reactions have been negative. A number of streamers have come out in support of the new system saying they feel it makes being a full time entertainer more viable option financially, and that it gives them new options for subscriber rewards. Many viewers also support the changes because they now have another opportunity to support their favorite content creators.
Who Benefits Most?
Many viewers and streamers have expressed concern over payouts for higher tier subscriptions, questioning who benefits the most from the new pricing tiers. While each partner’s contract terms are unique, most partners receive approximately 50% of subscription revenue with Twitch retaining the rest. As a result, many viewers are questioning whether the new subscription tiers truly benefit their favorite streamers or online shopping giant Amazon.com who purchased Twitch in 2014. Many speculate that the new tiers are to help
While most are hopeful that Twitch will increase the revenue share partners receive for higher-tier subscriptions, some viewers are saying they will continue to subscribe at the base level and donate directly to the streamer if that does not happen. Others however say they are indifferent, and some are even happy to support Twitch with higher priced subscriptions.
Partners will have the opportunity to learn more about the new subscription and emote system, and get answers to many of their questions, by attending a private webinar for partners in the near future, or by contacting partner support.
According to the announcement, Twitch will begin rolling out these changes over the next several weeks to partners who opt-in to a beta program, and and to all partners later this year.
