Twitch has responded to the backlash received following an update to their branded content guidelines, apologizing for the confusion in the process.
On June 6, 2023, Twitch sparked quite a bit of backlash after screenshots of their new branded content guidelines went viral across social media.
Many of the platform’s biggest creators responded, including Asmongold, Mizkif, and their group OTK as a whole. Even Mr. Beast chimed in, teasing that he may stream on Kick “just to protest Twitch”.
Just hours later, Twitch responded to the backlash in a series of tweets that apologized for creating confusion and frustration among creators.
Twitch apologizes amid guidelines change
“Today’s branded content policy update was overly broad. This created confusion and frustration, and we apologize for that,” said Twitch to start off its Twitter thread.
“We do not intend to limit streamers’ ability to enter into direct relationships with sponsors, and we understand that this is an important part of how streamers earn revenue.”
We do not intend to limit streamers’ ability to enter into direct relationships with sponsors, and we understand that this is an important part of how streamers earn revenue.
— Twitch (@Twitch) June 6, 2023
The Amazon-owned company added: “We wanted to clarify our existing ads policy that was intended to prohibit third-party ad networks from selling burned-in video and display ads on Twitch, which is consistent with other services.
“We missed the mark with the policy language and will rewrite the guidelines to be clearer. Thank you for sharing your concerns, and we appreciate the feedback. We’ll notify the community once we have updated the language.”
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We missed the mark with the policy language and will rewrite the guidelines to be clearer. Thank you for sharing your concerns, and we appreciate the feedback. We’ll notify the community once we have updated the language.
— Twitch (@Twitch) June 6, 2023
Shortly after the news circulated, Twitch Ambassadors were allegedly invited to a call with Twitch executives to discuss the guideline changes. One such Ambassador, Steve Saylor, raised a handful of key concerns.
In particular, they claim Twitch will be “reevaluating” its new 3% logo size rule, especially given its inaccessibility for “low vision users.”
“Lastly, I asked about smaller, disabled creators or those starting out on Twitch, if they do get their first sponsorship deal that has overlays, ads, etc. They assured us creator brand deals/sponsorships aren’t the targets. Just 3rd party random advertisements.”
Overall, I will say personally I wish there was better communication from Twitch about all of this. Twitch staff knows these things and we as a community are running out of patience, and they know that too.
— Steve Saylor (@stevesaylor) June 6, 2023
Many streamers across the platform saw the future changes to be quite harmful to the finances of streamers on the platform, with Mizkif calling them out on Twitter.
The changes would also have a huge impact on esports tournaments, with many worried about the future of the industry if these changes were to go into effect as planned.
They could also reduce the impact that charity streams have on raising money for those in need due to the limit on how big branded overlay items can be on streams.
We’ll have to wait to see Twitch’s revised version of the guidelines, but we’ll be sure to update you when they’re live.