🗺️ | Twitch's 2025 Roadmap, YouTube Podcast Crosses 1B, RIP Skype, and TikTok Desktop

Sometimes, the march of time moves faster than you realize, especially as we enter the third month of the year already! Fortunately, Twitch decided that last week would be the BIG week for setting up the rest of the year with their Roadmap AND the new Sponsorship dashboard. Meanwhile, TikTok revamped its desktop experience to better compete with YouTube and Twitch, and some sad news as Skype is being shut down in May (though many, myself included, thought it had already been shuttered years ago). Overall, an interesting week, so let's get right into it!

Platform Updates

🟪 TWITCH

• Twitch CEO Dan Clancy shared his 2025 Roadmap. Highlights include Bits+Subs for All Creators, Custom Power Ups, Improved Clip Editing, Vertical Video, and Shared Hype Train. You can hear my full thoughts in the video below!
• The new Sponsorship product was officially launched for Partners this week. It will be available for affiliates starting on March 11. StreamElements is a launch partner that lists its offers directly on the Twitch dashboard.
• They also launched a Creator Profile system that acts like a Media Kit. The Creator Profile initially only said it was available to Partners, but Chief Monetization Officer Mikey Minty says it will also be available to Affiliates.
• A new reporting option for "Viewership Tampering," aka View Botting, was introduced this week.
• Starting on April 4th, Twitch Prime subs will pay $1.05 in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Peru. In Brazil, it will increase to $0.75.
• You can unlock a Speedons 5 chat badge by watching 30 minutes of the event. Today is the last day.
• Twitch is hosting an event for Partners in Dublin, Ireland, in mid-March.
• Twitch is suing the son of a Russian oligarch to avoid paying a judgment in Russian courts that currently amounts to more than all the money in the world.
• The Safety Advisory Council has been renamed the Safety Advisory Collective.

🟥 YOUTUBE

• YouTube is exploring a paid option for Hype, the new (and in limited testing) leaderboard system that allows communities to boost a video.
• Creators will soon be unable to add interruptive ad break slots into their content, which seems reasonable. However, Muaaz has shared more details about why it may not be good, especially for gaming creators.
• Podcasts now have 1 billion monthly users on YouTube.

⬛ TIKTOK

• TikTok's new desktop experience aims to take on YouTube and Twitch directly.
• You can now do a "Voice Chat" with TikTok LIVE.
• A new feature called "Queue" will allow your viewers to get in a digital line to be brought on a live stream.

🔲 OTHERS

• Facebook Live added the ability to export VODs to Drive or Dropbox.
• SOOP is expanding its content support budget.
• Kick now has Sub and Follower goals.
• WhatNot wants to be the new home for American TikTokers uncertain about the future of that platform.
• Baidu has purchased YY Live for $2.1B.