Twitch announced that on July 11, the live-streaming platform will increase the price of subscriptions in 30 countries. Depending on the country, the cost fluctuates massively.
In the United States, subscription prices are going up 20 percent from $4.99 to $5.99. In Norway, they’re going up 40 percent from 39.99 to 55.99 NOK. According to Twitch’s help page, this change is part of “efforts to help creators build and grow their communities worldwide.”
But for many streamers and viewers, the Twitch sub price increase is another unwanted change following months of new and more complicated monetization systems.
Partner Confusion
The Twitch Partner Program was created in the platform’s early days to allow streamers who reached a certain threshold to earn a living through subscriptions and ads. In April 2017, Twitch also created the Twitch Affiliate program to allow more creators who didn’t get the numbers needed to make partners earn revenue.
In October 2023, Twitch launched its Partner Plus Program, adding Affiliates to the mix in May 2024. By earning points from different tiered subscriptions, you can either end up earning a 60/40 or 70/30 revenue split.
That same month, Twitch changed how much a Twitch Prime subscription pays streamers depending on which country they subbed from. United States subs give the streamer $2.25, while subscriptions from countries like Algeria, Tajikistan, and Tunisia only pay out 70 cents.
Streamer Sub-Standards
So now streamers need to earn more subscriptions to get a higher split, and subscriptions now cost more money. Streamer Tori Pareno wrote on X, “If Twitch increases the prices of subs, they should decrease the amount of subs needed to achieve Partner Plus!”
Other streamers have spoken out against the new subscription price hike, fearing that it may cause viewers to subscribe less.
“The extra pennies I’ll make from a paid sub is not worth the amount of people who will cancel because they see another subscription price going up,” streamer Chainbrain wrote on X.
Some users online posted that they wouldn’t be able to afford a subscription anymore. Others assured that their favorite streamers would understand if they couldn’t pay. Fans can still donate what they can or buy merchandise, but Twitch wants them to subscribe.
Twitch has managed to corner the market on live streaming because its competitors like Kick, Facebook, and YouTube struggle to build a community. Twitch streamers have been bleeding purple for over a decade, but at a certain point, that blood runs dry.
If subscriptions cost more, and streamers need more subscriptions to monetize, Twitch could devolve into a site where creators don’t feel like they can grow.
