Amazon AMZN's Twitch executives are insisting that now is the perfect time to join the platform despite a number of controversies including 400 layoffs, the resignation of former CEO Emmett Shear after 16 years, the unpopular monetization system, the increase in ads and several prominent creators leaving for Alphabet Inc.'s GOOGLGOOG YouTube.
What Happened: In an interview with The Verge, Twitch Chief Product Officer Tom Verrilli and Chief Monetization Officer Mike Minton detailed the changes and tools the company is implementing to invest in streamers and make earning and content creation as easy as possible on the platform.
See Also: End Of An Era: Twitch CEO Emmett Shear Steps Down After 16 Years
“I don’t think there’s ever been a better time to start streaming on Twitch,” Verrilli told The Verge.
Minton added: “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.”
What are the changes Twitch has made? Making the ad incentive program less disruptive and allowing creators to enable or disable it more swiftly.
Additionally, there are fresh characteristics intended to assist streamers in expanding their viewership and enhancing interactivity, such as a "guest star" functionality (currently in beta) that enables co-streaming with other creators who show up in their Twitch chats.
The platform has broadened its tag system, enabling streamers to generate distinct classifications for their streams, such as designating themselves as Black, Latinx or LGBTQIA2S+ streamers. This allows viewers to filter and discover creators who align with their preferences. Moreover, Twitch is gradually introducing tag impressions, which enables streamers to identify the categories that can potentially draw the most viewers to their channel.
“Everything we do at Twitch starts and ends with community,” Verrilli said.
On a similar note, Minton stated: “What we’re committed to doing is continuing to innovate, continuing to improve the experience from a beginning streamer all the way up to a highly successful star.”
Why It Matters: Will these changes be enough to stop creators from migrating to YouTube? It's unclear, but some Twitch streamers took to Twitter to express their discontent about the new Ads incentive program.
MikeCHK11 wrote: "Unless you’re a Twitch streamer averaging thousands of viewers, the Ads incentive program is not a viable source of income lol… it’s legit like 80-100 bucks for 190 hours streamed. Ads drive revenue to the platform. Great. Necessary. But don’t try to pretend this new Ads Incentive program is a game changer. For most, it’s minuscule. And certainly not a replacement for the 70/30 split… let alone 95/5."
"Twitch leadership is out of touch," he concluded.
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