After a scandal involving hundreds of thousands of euros, there is a huge discussion on Twitch about gambling on the platform. Streamers like Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo and Imane “Pokimane” Anys threatened to strike. Now the provider is reacting and is restricting what streamers can show.
Much has happened on Twitch in recent days:
- The slots category has been part of Twitch for a while and has been controversial ever since. Here, one-armed bandits and other gambling games are shown.
- A Twitch streamer succumbed to his addiction and defrauded fans and friends of €200,000 – The start of the current discussion.
- Some of the biggest streamers in the world then planned a protest strike. They advocated for gambling to be banned from Twitch. With success, it seems.
Twitch reacted to the controversy with a post, in which new rules are set out to better regulate gambling on the platform.
This is what Twitch says about it now: In a statement, Twitch explains that there are already rules for gambling, but some streamers simply disregard them. This is what they want to prevent now.
From October 18, new rules will apply, which will completely ban certain websites on the platform. In the message on Twitter, it says:
We will update our rules on October 18 to prohibit the streaming of gambling sites that show slots, roulette, or dice games that are not licensed in the United States or other jurisdictions with adequate consumer protection.
Twitch lists a number of banned sites and reserves the right to add more later. However, content such as sports betting, “fantasy sports”, and poker remains generally allowed. Gambling will therefore not disappear completely, but will at least be significantly more restricted.
Gambling has not always been a topic on Twitch. The first major streamers were successful in other ways:
Gambling streams on Twitch – Also a German topic
Which countries Twitch exactly refers to with the other jurisdictions and how important, for example, German laws are for the rules cannot yet be said. However, gambling on Twitch is also a major issue here.
Streamers like MontanaBlack and Knossi have reached tens of thousands of fans with such content and have been able to grow, among other things, because of it. MeinMMO asked the well-known internet lawyer Christian Solmecke how the legal situation regarding gambling streams in Germany actually looks:
Both MontanaBlack and Knossi have now distanced themselves from the content, and with the new rules, it is likely to become more difficult for other streamers to use gambling as a main content.
However, the fact that this is not necessary for growth and reach is also shown by a new, rising Twitch star. The German streamer Fibii has quickly become one of the largest female streamers in the German area:
A young German streamer is currently experiencing rapid growth on Twitch – Who is actually xFibii?
