Twitch’s Update on Revenue Shares: Here’s What VTubers Have to Say

A new update from popular streaming platform Twitch related to revenue shares has the larger streaming community reacting to it in a more negative way. In a recent blog post by Twitch President Dan Clancy, they stated that the 70/30 revenue share will be split for the first US$100K earned through subscription revenue, and the 50/50 share split made on earnings above US$100K.

According to Twitch, the changes will take effect due to “cost of service”, and all streamers with these terms have already received this information and more via email.

Also coinciding with Twitch’s recent update were the announcements from YouTube, which has introduced new features in its YouTube Partner Program (YPP), including being able to monetize YouTube Shorts, the platform’s response to short-form media, while using popular copyrighted songs.

With the ongoing battle of streaming dominance between Twitch and YouTube, NewsDrop has collated some of the VTuber community’s response on their choice of streaming platform.

Popular VTuber CodeMiko has expressed her transition to do YouTube content for now, following the revenue share updates. She added that she has long contemplated the ‘move’, but the recent news has further reinforced her decision to move for the meantime.

VTubers Merry of MerryWeather Media and Ayane Hylo have also expressed their interest to gradually switch to YouTube over time, with Ayane saying that her Twitch will now be used occasionally for other streams.

Meanwhile, indie VTuber Brett Ultimus has stated that he ‘is not surprised’ with the recent announcements, stating that Twitch kept moving the goal post whenever they were about to meet the prerequisite threshold for the revenue sharing.

In the middle of Twitch’s issue with the revenue sharing, other VTubers who also stream and do content on Twitch and YouTube have provided insights regarding said update.

Obake Pam, the CEO-Tuber of Playasia, said that being able to produce content both on YouTube and Twitch allowed her to view both sides of the story, and say that both platforms have their own downsides. Leaving one of them in favor of the other will have a drastic impact on a VTuber and their relative content.

Meanwhile, former VTuber Jusagi Chan has commented that in his months of doing Twitch and finally switching to YouTube under an undisclosed type of channel made him realize that YouTube fares better in terms of creating content.

In terms of discoverability, Geist says that Twitch’s discoverability has been touted as the reason to stream there, and yet many people are still moving out of Twitch because the discoverability is ‘zero at best’.

While many VTubers and other streamers are rallying to move out of Twitch, some VTubers have opposed the idea, with others saying doing both platforms at the same time can be beneficial in particular cases.

Take Kawa Entertainment’s Koziichu’s take for instance. In a Twitter thread, she explained that if VTubers aim to focus on live streaming content only, stick to Twitch for now. Meanwhile, if VTubers want to live stream on YouTube, they need to be wary that it should end up like a proper video and not an uncut stream;  streams on average must range between an hour or two.

Meanwhile, VTuber manager Tessa Villaverde said that while YouTube is improving its features regularly, VTubers need to understand that the platform favors a wide range of content, and that streaming VODs should not be the sole reason to grow on the platform. There should be things such as highlights and YouTube Shorts, as well as being wary of retention time across their subscribers.

However, fellow VTuber manager Lucky commented that if VTubers are estimated to have less than 1,000 followers, it is better for them to stick to Twitch for the meantime. For her, the conversion rate for people to go from Twitch to YouTube is not big right now, pointing out to various streamers in the past few months who have made deals with YouTube to leave Twitch.

Lastly, composer and ASMR VTuber Kyou has tweeted a multitude of takes related to the Twitch/YouTube rivalry, and stated that if VTubers are all after revenue, they should utilize every channel they have.

Kyou also pointed out that most people who have the liberty to change platforms quickly are privileged, since it allows them to shift without hurting their own brand and content.

Regardless, the Twitch/YouTube platform debacle still remains to this day among creators whenever a new major update from these platforms are being made. Only long-term observation can tell which of the platforms work best for the VTuber community.