2022 is set to be a tough year for content creators and salespeople trying to make a living through major technology platforms. Sellers on Amazon and Etsy is already facing increased fees, and now new pay cuts are reportedly coming to Twitch.
A new Bloomberg report quotes people familiar with Twitch’s payroll planning claims that the company wants to encourage streamers to run more ads in addition to considering reducing the portion of subscription fees awarded to artists. More specifically, the site’s top streamers would reportedly see their share of subscriptions drop from 70% to 50% according to Bloomberg. The company is also considering introducing several salary steps with different criteria required to qualify for each. All in all, these changes are intended to increase Twitch’s profitability, even though it may come at the expense of their community’s most active users.
Twitch did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment.
On the other hand, sources speaking with Bloomberg said the company may consider easing its exclusivity restrictions, which would allow creators to stream on other platforms and potentially also cash in some extra revenue there.
Preliminary considerations on revenue generation come amid a time of upheaval at Twitch. On the one hand, the company is running high on a pandemic-induced viewer increase. About 24% of U.S. Internet users between the ages of 16 and 64 said they began watching more livestreams during the pandemic, according to GlobalWebIndex data Seen by Insider intelligence. On the other hand even with the rise in the eyeballs, Twitch is at the same time dismissive of what Bloomberg calls a lot of “exodus” of employees disappointed in the direction of the company. About 300 employees reportedly left Twitch last year, while another 60 left in the first three months of 2022.The best creators are gone too. In the past year both DrLupo and TimTheTatmantwo prominent streamers, left the page for rival YouTube.
Twitch streamers are not the only ones preparing for financial pressure from their Big Tech executives.
Earlier this year, Amazon announced that it would add a 5% “fuel and inflation surcharge” to third-party sellers using the company’s fulfillment centers as a way to offset increased costs. In a notice to sellers seen by the Associated Press, Amazon said increased hourly wages, construction costs and new hires during the pandemic were all to blame for the increased price increases. Yet Amazon did not exactly fight as a company during the pandemic, though. In the first quarter of 2021, the company has submitted a record revenue of $ 108.5 billion, which nearly tripled its revenue from the same time last year.
Over on Etsy, the sellers continued strike and issued a digital boycott of what they considered exorbitant increases in sales fees. Etsy recently tried to increasessee seller’s transaction fees by 30%, which would in effect raise the seller’s fee from 5% to 6.5%