On Feb. 19, Twitch announced that it plans to cut some creators’ content archives in order to streamline storage costs. Starting April 19, Twitch users can expect their Highlights and Uploads (including those unpublished) to be automatically deleted until they fall under the 100-hour storage cap. Twitch says it will start with the least-viewed Highlights and Broadcasts first.
We’re implementing a 100 hr storage limit for Highlights & Uploads starting 4/19. This won’t apply to Past Broadcasts (VODs) or clips.
— Twitch Support (@TwitchSupport) February 19, 2025
Less than 0.5% of streamers exceed 100hrs & this content accounts for <0.1% of hours watched. Users will be notified.https://t.co/RoDIAEzBV5 pic.twitter.com/zN7iKHpSqm
The platform’s reasoning is that less than 0.5% of active Twitch streamers currently exceed the 100-hour storage limit. Storage of this content, they add, is “costly.” In a website post, Twitch argues that deleting content above that threshold will help the platform “manage resources more efficiently.”
With this advance warning, Twitch is giving creators notice so they can delete Uploads and Highlights themselves. Moreover, to assist with this change, Twitch is rolling out a new storage tracker which is accessible from the Video Producer page. This tool will allow creators to filter their content based on creation date, view count, and length. In addition, once creators’ content is under the limit, they will no longer be able to exceed 100 hours.
Creators React to Twitch Change
The announcement got a frosty reception on X. Several creators pointed out that this change could impact the speedrunning community, with one user writing: “Tons of world records & times will just vanish.”
Another opined that “this is a bad decision.”
“If there were a simple way to organize and algorithmically push highlights, Twitch could run ads on them and keep the revenue,” the creator added. “I suspect this is a horrible compromise by Twitch in preparation for introducing a playback feature in the near future.”
“Yeah, please don’t do this,” a third wrote, “There is so much history and past VODs turned highlights, and tons of content could potentially go down the drain.”
While a fourth asked:”If fewer than 0.5% of streamers exceed 100 hours, what kind of savings are you getting from this policy? Call me crazy, but storing video on a video streaming site is probably one of your main jobs.”
While the data suggests minimal overall impact, this change could significantly affect some creators. The question remains: will Twitch proceed with implementation despite this?
