Streaming has emerged as a good employment option for those who “make it big” on the platform. For gamers who love the social aspect of gaming, Twitch is the place to be. The best gamers in the world show off their prowess for their followers on their Twitch channel, many of them doing so on a nearly constant basis. How much money do Twitch streamers make, and is this a career path that is as accessible as everyone makes it out to be? Let’s examine the requirements for being a professional streamer and the potential earnings on this network.
Earnings on Twitch
We must first look at how you can make money on this platform before we can discuss income, compensation, and streaming as a job. Only some can start earning money, much less make it their full-time profession. Furthermore, Twitch is quite selective in how it distributes its profits, and there are standards you must follow to earn money on Twitch.
Any Twitch streamer has the opportunity to earn money by utilizing any of the following:
- Tournament winnings
- Sponsorships
- Affiliate links
- Donations
- Selling Customized merch
Although any Twitch streamer has the option to earn money mentioned above, in practice, you would need to have a sizeable following (or be a really good gamer) to succeed with these strategies.
If any of the strategies mentioned above were to be effective for you to make money, you would likely need to, at the very least, satisfy the requirements to be a Twitch Affiliate:
- At least 500 minutes of streaming throughout the previous 30 days.
- In the last 30 days, you must steam on at least seven times.
- Obtain an average of three viewers per stream at once
- Increase your audience to 50 followers.
If you satisfy these requirements, Twitch will automatically extend an invitation to join as an Affiliate. This will increase your prospects for employment like:
- Twitch Bits
- Twitch Subscriptions
- From your Twitch page, sell games, in-game stuff, and t-shirts.
Twitch Partners are an additional level that the company awards to its top streamers. The Twitch Partnership program, however, is exclusive and available via invitation only. In addition to all of the methods already stated, Twitch Partners can also:
- Run video ads
For the top streamers, Twitch is a very good source of money. Numerous top Twitch streamers are also skilled professional e-sports athletes, and this combination gives them significant influence over their viewers and gamers.
Revenue from Subscription
Affiliates and Partners on Twitch can receive a cut of the subscription fees that users pay for their channels. One Sub Emote can be given by affiliates to each subscriber for usage in the chat room. Twitch Partners can unlock up to 50 Sub Emotes to entice users to subscribe at higher levels.
Viewers have three subscription options: $4.99, $9.99, or $24.99. The initial distribution of the subscription revenue is 50/50 between the streamer and Twitch. However, large broadcasters frequently receive a bigger portion of the subscription money, sometimes up to 100%. Subscriptions to streamers give them a steady income is one of the biggest advantages. Until the subscriber actively cancels the subscription, they will continue to receive their portion of subscription payments. Successful streamers can expect between $3,000 and $5,000 per month from their subscribers, with the top broadcasters making far more.
Advertisement Income
However, the money made from the advertising can only be split with Twitch Partners. For those with millions of followers, advertising money can be highly profitable, averaging $250 per 100 members.
Twitch provides typical IAB display and pre-roll advertising alternatives. According to the CPM model, they pay streamers for every 1000 views.
The recent increase in ad blocking is one factor that has decreased ad revenue. However, broadcasters frequently encourage their viewers to disable Ad Block to aid them. CPM pricing is incredibly seasonal, ranging from $2 to $10 per 10,000 views at different seasons of the year. Advertisers are willing to pay the most for advertising space in June, October, November, and December. Each streamer has a different advertising fee. Each partnered streamer’s rates and benefits are specified in a unique contract that Twitch creates. It also contains a secrecy clause, calculating the precise sums streamers make from advertising challenges.
Earnings from Bits and Cheers
Twitch uses bits as its virtual money. Channel subscribers can purchase Bits and exchange them for a variety of cheering emotes to use in the chat rooms of their favorite streamers. There are several animated emoji with different bit values (referred to as Bit jewels and Cheernotes). These range in size from a little grey “Bit gem” worth one bit to a huge red “Bit gem” with a star animation worth 10,000 bits. Cheernotes are a little different because each streamer makes their own. They function much in the same manner, in any case.
Twitch compensates the broadcaster at the rate of one cent per Bit whenever a user uses a Bit gem or Cheernote.
This raises the crucial question: How does this translate into actual, hard cash? It’s a complex equation, as we’ve already explained. A streamer never receives a set monthly pay because their income is directly correlated to their audience’s financial support and popularity.
A “small” Twitch streamer makes $50 to $1,500 monthly. They make more money the more subscribers and donations they have. It’s also why having a large audience sometimes translates into making little money; At the same time, ad revenue will increase as more people watch your streams, and direct payments remain the dominant form of payment in this industry.
