Recap Season, Streamer Award 2025 Winners, Twitchcon 2026 Dates, + Twitch's Awful Sponsor Rates

Hello, and welcome to the recap coming to you from Mexico! I'm currently on a little vacation for my birthday, but I don't know how to fully relax - so you're getting a newsletter regardless! Twitch also dragged me out of my mojito-driven attempt at relaxation, as they launched new sponsorship opportunities for partners with rates far below industry standards... I have NO idea what kind of decision-making is going on to approve it, but something is deeply wrong there.

All that said, between Twitch and YouTube and The Streamer Awards, I'm going to have a LOT to talk about on stream when I'm back later this week! But for the time being, let's jump into the news!

🟪 TWITCH

• Twitch teased Twitchcon dates on Instagram on Wednesday. The official dates are:
  • Twitchcon Rotterdam 2026: May 30-31, 2026
  • Twitchcon San Diego 2026: November 13-15, 2026
• The Bounty Board is officially being folded into the Sponsorship dashboard.
• Twitch's new Sponsorships are offering 80% lower rates than industry standards. This is absurd... please watch my video on the topic.
• Twitch Recap 2026 is now available.
• A December Drop Fest started this week and will run for the next few weeks, featuring game drops from over 20 games. They are a mix of free (Watch Time) and Paid (Sub/Gift Sub) drops.
• Holiday Hooplah Event: Download a clip before December 12, unlock the Christmas Sweater Badge. Watch 1-5 Shared Chat streams, unlock three Christmas Emotes.
• New Badges: Stream Awards 2025 (Watch Time), Rustmas 2025 ($), Total War Anniversary ($), Twitch Recap 2025 (Free), Streamer Awards Tux (Watch Time).
• Twitch's CTO, Christine Webber, answered five questions from Politico.

🟥 YOUTUBE

• YouTube Recap 2026 is now available. It may not be available if you have Watch History off or other factors.
• YouTube has added a new "Make Me Move" AI feature to Shorts.
• YouTube released a new Global Trends Report. Some fascinating stuff in here about creators and current trends to capitalize on!
• A/B Title Testing is now available globally.
• YouTube is testing Expressive Captions.

⬛ TIKTOK

• You can now repost live streams to your community.
• TikTok is testing "Nearby" in Europe, which shows you content, creators and businesses located close to you.
• Creator-led ads drive 70% higher click-through rates and 159% higher engagement, according to a study by TikTok.

🟦 DISCORD & TWITTER X

• Discord launched Checkpoint, a recap of your year on the platform.
• Discord is introducing In-Game Commerce that allows you to buy skins and other cosmetics in-game directly through Discord. They are starting with Marvel Rivals.
• Discord is planning to upgrade audio quality and voice controls.

🔲 OTHERS

• Spotify Wrapped is now available.
• India's Dream11 is pivoting to sports entertainment, with a livestreaming service.