Earlier this summer, Twitch offered some good news to streamers frustrated with the platform’s default revenue share, which splits earnings between the company and the creator 50/50. With the launch of Twitch’s new Partner Plus program, streamers could soon qualify to take home 70% of their earnings instead — but that better deal came with a few pretty major caveats.
To qualify for Partner Plus, Twitch requires that streamers maintain a minimum of 350 paid subscribers for three straight months. The requirement is steep considering how difficult it can be to build traction on the site and doesn’t improve things for new streamers just starting out.
Now, Twitch is making one change to the Partner Plus program, though it isn’t the one that most people asked for. This week, Twitch announced that higher subscription tiers will count for extra toward meeting the 350 paid subscriber requirement.
On Twitch, paid subscribers get special perks, including ad-free streams, chat badges, subscriber only chat access and special subscriber streams. While less common, more expensive Tier 2 and Tier 3 subs offer a channel’s fans special badge flair and extra emotes that show up in chat.
Now, Tier 1 subs count as 1 point, Tier 2 subs count for 2 points and Tier 3 subs count for 6 points. The 350 subscriber requirement is now the total number of “Partner Plus points” that a streamer needs to qualify for the program.
While that change will give some streamers a boost, many streamers are still calling on Twitch to make gifted subs count toward the toward the 350 paid subscriptions requirement. (Amazon Prime members also get one free channel subscription each month, but Twitch doesn’t count these subs toward the Partner Plus requirements either.)
Twitch has a huge culture of gift subs, where a channel’s existing subscribers pay to give another viewer a free subscription, supporting their favorite streamers and bringing people into the community in the process. Twitch’s big subscriber event known as “Subtember” is just around the corner too, offering discounts on subscriptions and gift subs.
Channels that do manage to clear the 350 subscriber hurdle will be enrolled in the more favorable revenue share for 12 months, even if their paid subscriber base falls below the threshold afterward. For streamers who make the cut, the first $100,000 they earn on the platform will be divvied up 70/30, but earnings default back to 50/50 once they cross that mark.
Twitch’s Partner Plus program launches on October 1 — right around the corner — so we’ll be watching to see how the new revenue share plays out and how many streamers actually manage to clear the bar to get it.
