It's a holiday here in Canada, which explains the slight delay in sending this - I opted to get coffee with my dad! He says hello. This week was particularly newsy with a range of stories from Twitch launches to gambling drama and a clear plan by Tiktok to eat into Twitch's market share. So, without further ado... Let's get into the news!
Twitch News and Platform Stories
Big week for badges on Twitch, as they officially launched the Artist Badge and Emote Attribution functionality. The Artist Badge is accessible via the Role Manager. Emote Attribution via the Emote Manager. We also saw Twitch launch two new Global Badges, "Watching Without Video" and "Watching Without Audio," as a feature launch associated with GAAD. They also updated their Extension Guidelines to effectively ban NFTs from extensions.
Following up on last week's horrific hate crime in Buffalo, Twitch finally made an official statement addressing the situation and how they handled it. However, they still may face increased scrutiny as the New York Attorney General is planning to investigate Twitch, along with Discord and 4Chan. Brands are also keeping a close eye, according to this concerning article. The last thing Twitch wants is their own adpocalypse.
Lastly, for Twitch News, I posted an article about the Ads Incentive Program for June. Many streamers saw significantly increased rates from the program this month. The top offers are approaching reasonable rates for creators to interrupt their content for ads. That said, not everyone was so lucky. The best way I can quantify the offers is in low, mid, and top tiers. To help creators better understand their offers, I now have a Twitch Ads Incentive calculator!
That's all the big Twitch stories from the week, but there's plenty more below that you'll get access to by joining the mailing list for free!
