Twitch bans major gaming sites after streamers threaten strike

It’s been a rough 24 hours for people streaming purple. After a scandal broke a Twitch streamer had scammed viewers and peers out of an alleged $200,000 to fund a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive addictionhigh-profile figures began to pressure the live broadcast the company to do something about the larger underlying problem. The game, which many have been arguing about for a while now, has become a scourge on the platform as many wealthy creators promoted potentially dangerous content to impressionable young fans. While Twitch seemed to let it go for a long time, the Amazon-owned platform today announced a massive change to game streams it will have big ramifications for creators and viewers.

According to a new update posted on social media, Twitch will no longer allow “Streaming gambling sites that include slots, roulette, or dice games that are not permitted in the United States or other jurisdictions that provide sufficient consumer protection.” The list currently includes Stake.com, Rollbit.com, Duelbits.com and Roobet.com although Twitch says so that it may grow as the company continues to assess the situation. Twitch will, however, continue to allow sports betting, fantasy sports, and poker. These appear to be the high-level changes that will go into effect starting October 18, and Twitch is ready to share more details soon.

While we don’t have all the information about gambling on the platform just yet, it’s likely that Twitch will share these key details early due to all the commotion that erupted in late September. Earlier this week, streamers like Pokimane suggested they would team up with some of the platform’s other popular personalities and go on strike during a high-volume time, like Christmas, unless Twitch released a statement to that effect. subject or decrees new rules of the game.

While the new rules don’t outright ban gambling, they do target some of the biggest websites that are either streamer-favored or streamer-sponsored. And the ramifications will be huge: not only is gaming one of the most popular content categories, with the platform’s biggest faces such as xQc participating, some creators like Tyler Faraz “Trainwreck” Niknam said they make up to a million a month from game companies they feature live. That’s not counting how much viewers could earn by playing while sharing the reference. streamers blast on stream codes (something they can’t do anymore), or any other sponsorship a Twitch streamer might receive through more conventional means on the platform. While these streamers pointed out that they told viewers not to play themselves, it was obvious that bbusiness was huge.

“In its announcement, Twitch reminded people that it already has game rules in place, but “some people are circumventing these rules and exposing our community to potential harm.”