5% revenue split for streamers who opt in
Streaming platform Twitch is getting into video game sales. It’s a smart move, one that makes a whole lot of sense given the company’s owner, Amazon, and one I’ll be curious to see shake out.
“Viewers have always used Twitch as a way to ‘demo’ games before they buy,” said the company. “Now we’ll be giving them a way to close the loop and buy a game or in-game items they’re interested in, when and where they discover it. It works like this: an offer to purchase will appear below the video when a streamer is playing a game that’s available through Twitch. Partnered streamers who opt in will receive a 5% rev share for these purchases, and viewers who buy will receive a digital Twitch Crate that contains a randomly generated reward like an emote, badges, or Bits for Cheering.”
So far, developers and publishers like Vlambeer, tinyBuild, Paradox Interactive, Telltale, Devolver Digital, and Ubisoft are signed on for theprogram, which is said to be launching later this spring.
A few more particulars: the video games that viewers buy can be downloaded and accessed through the Twitch launcher, though games and digital items “can also be fulfilled directly to developers’ ID systems via account linking.” Purchases are processed through Amazon, with US currency only at launch. And as for the exact revenue split, “creators will receive 70% of the revenue and Partnered Twitch streamers will receive 5% for sales originating from their channel pages [which leaves some for Twitch].”
“Giving players another way to support their favorite streamer is not only great for everyone involved – it’s a logical next step in the relationship between developers, fans and streamers,” said Paradox’s Shams Jorjani.
Again, I’m eager to see this play out and how streamers, viewers, and game developers respond to the program in terms of disclosures (or lack thereof), adoption, and all that good stuff.
