The livestreaming site Twitch.TV is experimenting with streams that can only be viewed if one pays for a subscription. Will this soon be the case for every streamer? We show you what it’s all about.
This is currently causing a stir on Twitch: Yesterday, on May 27th, Twitch apparently tested a feature that can exclude certain viewers from livestreams. A livestream channel was visible on the website that was testing this function.
The channel is called hgg_cheering_test. When visiting the channel, it stated during the livestream “hgg_cheering_test is currently streaming for subscribers only”. There was apparently a time-limited preview and then a Subscribe button through which one can complete a subscription.
Such a paywall function allows streams to be directed only at a very specific target group: paying subscribers. This causes mixed feelings among users of the livestreaming platform.
Will soon every streamer have the chance to exclude viewers who do not pay for their content?
What’s behind the paid feature
This is how users are reacting: The feature has been hotly debated across various social channels. A thread in the subreddit Livestreamfails has so far (May 28th – 10:10 AM) received over 875 comments. Many of them negative:
- “Oh man, this is going to be terrible”
- “It’s probably in the hands of the streamers to use it. So hold them responsible”
- “I have no doubt that everyone who uses this feature (unless it’s for Prime Video, for instance) is shooting themselves in the foot”
- “Please enable this feature so I know who I can unfollow”
- “I wonder how this will affect clips. Can regular users see clips from sub-only streams?”
A tweet from @StreamerNews pointing to this test stream is very popular on Twitter. A poll was conducted there to see what users think of this feature. The majority of over 9400 votes opted for “bad idea”.
What is the background? There are currently no official statements from Twitch.
The Twitter user @ladyinsanity replied to the tweet from Streamer News. She says, “Definitely an old product that is being revived. I believe it was only used in the past for a handful of eSports events. Doubtful they will integrate this architecture everywhere now. Reactions will determine how Twitch handles it.”
In addition, she notes that the feature probably existed during the StarCraft 2 era during well-known events and leagues such as NASL and MLG.
Why is Twitch testing this feature now? The reason for this test stream is unclear. Some suspect the function could be used again for future eSports streams. But there is no official confirmation for this yet.
The reactions of users are mixed. Many are against such a feature for individual streamers. It would tear apart a streamer’s community if one does not pay. Others are more open to the idea and think that a streamer should decide for themselves.
What do you think of such a feature on Twitch.TV? Okay for eSports events or even for individual streamers?
