Twitch’s ‘giving back’ feature mocked as streamers say it just gives Twitch more money

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Twitch has faced criticism for introducing a feature allowing streamers to return funds to the platform, which they can do by donating from their earnings to the community.

On May 20th, Twitch unveiled a new initiative enabling streamers to purchase Bits and bestow subscription gifts using their earnings from live streaming.

The platform recommends that you share resources with your local community or lend a hand to fellow streamers you admire, utilizing your disposable funds.”

Or more concisely:

“Contribute to your community or assist other streamers you adore using your available funds.

On the contrary, confounding to many Twitch streamers and viewers, this development sparked debate, largely due to Twitch’s revenue-sharing model, with some suggesting that it might instead boost the platform’s earnings.

We’re now offering you the chance to purchase Bits and subscriptions as gifts using the earnings from your Twitch streams. Reciprocate to your community or boost your favorite streamers with your available funds.

Initially, this feature will be rolled out in the United States within the next few days, with plans to expand to other regions soon.

— Twitch Support (@TwitchSupport) May 20, 2025

Streamers accuse Twitch of “double taxing” them with new feature

Right away following the announcement, it became a topic of debate among streamers that Twitch might be gaining more advantages from this situation compared to viewers.

Let me get this straight: If Chat donates 100, 50 goes to Twitch, and the creator uses the remaining 50, with 25 of it also going to Twitch. So, a total of 75 goes to Twitch, while 25 is split between the creator and the community?” And his response seemed to imply that the explanation was confusing or illogical.

One user mentioned that smaller streamers may face a situation where they are effectively taxed twice, as Twitch takes a portion of the donations given by viewers. This is because these donations might be considered income twice: once for the streamer and again for Twitch due to their fee structure. The consequence of this, another user explained, is that smaller content creators will receive reduced payouts when using this feature. This means that Twitch saves on processing fees since they won’t have to process as many transactions from these creators.

ABYSS commented, “It seems like people give subscriptions to help creators, but you take half of that amount, and then the creators use a portion of what’s left to buy more subs or gift them to others. But if Twitch takes another 50%, it feels like we’re paying twice for the same thing, which is similar to double taxation, right?

On Twitch, the streamers are so deeply integrated that it’s as if they’re in a long-term Stockholm situation, unaware of it. In reality, they’ll enthusiastically applaud, believing it’s an upgrade to their quality of life rather than recognizing the dynamics at play. 😂

— Trainwreck (@Trainwreckstv) May 21, 2025

As a gamer, I’d put it like this: “Even Trainwreck, one of the co-founders, jumped into the conversation, pointing a finger at the platform for keeping us streamers in a seemingly never-ending ‘Stockholm situation.’ That’s rough!

On the contrary, Knut and Nmp argued, noting that Twitch didn’t compel anyone to utilize the feature instead.

Knut remarked, ‘It seems many are expressing discontent. If you find yourself unwilling to spend your money on Twitch, then simply don’t. Nobody is compelling you to do so… It would be more beneficial if you focused your energy elsewhere, away from issues that aren’t problems for you.’

As a gamer, I reckon folks are now more into airing their grievances about trivial matters instead of focusing on what truly counts.

Instead, let me rephrase it as: People seem to take pleasure in expressing their dissatisfaction over trivial matters.

— Nick Polom (@nmplol) May 21, 2025

Let’s wait and observe if Twitch plans to adjust the implementation of this feature to make it more attractive for content creators.

At present, this service is exclusive to the United States, but the aim is to make it accessible globally by the year 2025. Notably, declining ad revenue has been a concern for content creators as they’ve reported their earnings hitting record lows.

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2025-05-22 22:23