Amazon's Twitch wants more gamers to make money

To woo participants as YouTube made it harder to generate revenue in wake of advertising boycott

Amazon.com’s video streaming site Twitch Interactive is making it easier for aspiring stars to make money, seeking to woo participants soon after Google’s YouTube made it harder for users to generate revenue in the wake of an advertising boycott.

Twitch, a website where users can watch live streams of video games and other activities, currently has 17,000 “partners,” who generally appear a few times a week, attract hundreds of viewers for each broadcast and get a share of subscription and ad revenue. The company on Friday announced a new “affiliate” program, sort of a minor league for streamers who don’t have large followings but show promise.

The site is dominated by video game players, but includes aspiring chefs, artists and musicians who broadcast their talents. While Twitch doesn’t disclose how much streamers earn, many get paid thousands of dollars a month. Kristen Valnicek, who streams in provocative costumes under the name “KittyPlays,” received $7,000 from a single viewer.

Twitch hopes to attract tens of thousands of streamers into the affiliate program, which will serve as a pipeline to reach partner status, said Ethan Evans, the site’s senior vice president of commerce and developer success. Some streamers need an incentive to buy equipment and invest the time necessary to develop a loyal following, he said.

Viewers will pay the affiliate streamers with a system that rewards performance, which is Twitch’s equivalent of a guitarist performing on a busy street corner for donations. Additional tools letting affiliates make money, such as selling subscriptions, will be added in the future, the company said.

Bloomberg