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Visual examples of types "Burned in" Twitch's new guidelines disallow sponsorships.
Expand / Visual examples of the types of “burned” sponsorships that Twitch’s new guidelines don’t allow.

A recent update to Twitch’s guidelines limits the number of types of overlay ads that streamers can sell and insert on their own content. And while Twitch now says its “overbroad policy language” missed the mark, many major streamers are still in the thick of the policy, which they say severely hurts their ability to monetize content on the Amazon-owned streaming platform.

On June 6, the platform announced that its brand content policy guidelines (according to Twitch) will go into effect on July 1. Any “burned” videos, display banners, or audio ads will not be allowed on the platform. These ad formats are popular with many major streamers who take up a portion of their screen real estate as part of overall branded streaming sponsorship deals.

While basic sponsor logos are still allowed to appear on these streams, sponsorships are “limited to 3% display size,” according to the new guidelines. That can be a problem for some disabled streamers, like blind streamer Steve Saylor pointed outThis size is “too small for overlays and too small on mobile, so it’s inaccessible to users with low vision.”

Showing sponsored products “in the background” on streamers is still allowed under the new guidelines, prompting some streamers to create cheeky examples of streamers. Fully packed with brand products or identified Large projector screens With giant logos on the stream that technically “didn’t burn”. Other types of “branded content” are still allowed under the new guidelines, including playing a sponsored game, discussing sponsored products, or linking to sponsored sites in chat.

The types of “burn-in” ad deals that Twitch prohibits are different from Twitch’s standard interstitial ads, which the platform inserts into streams at timed intervals. It’s also different from streaming subscriptions that viewers buy for certain platform benefits.

That’s an important distinction because Twitch generally splits 50/50 of all revenue from those “official” platform-level sponsorships. Branding deals that use “burned” ads, on the other hand, generally pay directly to the streamer without Twitch taking a cut.

Instant response

Popular MMO streamer Asmongold exemplified the strong reaction to the news among many major Twitch streamers. “This is a legitimate situation where streamers should consider leaving Twitch or moving to other platforms.” He said on Twitter..

“Twitch has no reason to do this other than to monetize, monopolize, and exploit smaller streams,” Asmongold continued. In a message sent on Tuesday. “It’s stressing everybody out in a way that doesn’t have to happen. So yeah, I’m going to go to another forum without exception… if that happens. I’m going to start actively pursuing a deal.”

Tips Out, who co-founded the OTK influencer network with Asmongold, has threatened to leave Twitch over the move. Tweeting The new policy represents a “direct attack on our business, our employees and everything we’ve done in our organization.” in An open letter to TwitchOTK cited the move as the latest example of what Twitch’s “anti-creative policy has been like for years.”

Charity streams like Game Done Quick don't seem to be able to show the Red Bull banner ad seen here under the new guidelines.
Expand / Charity streams like Game Done Quick don’t seem to be able to show the Red Bull banner ad seen here under the new guidelines.

Individual streams are not the only ones affected by this movement. Events like The Streamer Awards and major streaming contests often prominently display sponsor logos or banner ads in a way that makes money without disrupting the stream. Like Games Done Fast Charity Streams, you can also use popular ad overlays to help defray the costs of the event.

Competing platforms have been in the limelight of late, with Upstart Kick.com Offer to pay a minimum “maintenance fee” of $25 Twitch has A long case Official Affiliates and Partners Terminating Their Agreements with Twitch.

“I’ve never seen a creator so angry.” he said. Jake Lokiw, the creator of the streaming-focused news show, has a player update. “Not even kidding, this could be what stops Twitch or really starts to turn the tide on Kik and YouTube.”

Push them back

Twitch responded to the backlash in a Twitter thread on Tuesday afternoon He apologized It has created “overbroad” and “confusion and frustration” for policy reform. The update is simply “to block. Third party advertising networks Rather than selling videos burned and showing ads on Twitch, which is compatible with other services” (emphasis added).

“There was no intention to limit the ability of streamers to connect directly with sponsors, and we understand that this is an important part of streamers’ monetization,” Twitch said. The forum concluded with a promise to “rewrite the guidelines to make them clearer.”

Unless that’s a rewrite, though, the apology is less than enough for many angry creators. “Admit that you’re completely lost as a platformer,” popular e-mail streamer Moistcr1tikal said. He tweeted. In response to the apology thread. “This is a terrible, out-of-touch, retrograde decision to try and save the elderly.”



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