Twitch is set to offer viewers more choices when it comes to supporting their favorite streamers on the platform. The news was made official today by the company.
Currently, there’s the $4.99 per month subscription tier. A leaked email to partners started going around earlier this week that indicated that Twitch was about to roll out $10 and $25 per month subscriptions. The email hit Twitter, Reddit and NeoGAF, and there was been a lot of chatter about its validity and its ramifications. Here’s the email.
Right, so partners win by seeing more money come in from subscribers who pony up monthly stacks of cash. They’ll also see emotes rewards a bit faster and more efficiently.
Subscribers? Well, more and better interaction with the channel and its streamer is what’s promised here. “You’ll also be able to offer coveted exclusive emotes for higher-priced subscriptions,” the email indicates, “which let fans show off their commitment to your channel.” Yes, we live in a world where people covet emotes so much that they’ll pay $25 a month for them.
The official word from Twitch? Here’s a part of the email we received.
Complementing the current $4.99 option, partnered content creators will have new $9.99 and $24.99 subscriptions that allow viewers to offer additional levels of support. Subscriptions are a defining part of the Partnership program since it enables fans to show appreciation for their favorite creators, while adding to the native language of Twitch by introducing new emotes daily. These new subscription options will soon go live as an opt-in beta.
In addition to providing the community with more options to support their favorite creators at higher levels, Partners will be able to reward their super fans with special perks, such as new exclusive emotes.
Viewers will have choices…
Now, on the one hand, it’s crazy that those with more cash will get more access to what was once free for all (with ads, of course). Now that there will actually be tiers for streamers, viewers will have to choose. Yes, they can opt to not pay anyone a dime, which is fine, but if they want in on exclusive stuff, they may have to point all of their money at one streamer instead of spreading over a few.
That seems problematic for smaller streamers, though I’m not sure how they perceive this news.
Would you pay $25 per month to support someone on Twitch?