Welcome back!

Sign in or create an account to enjoy GINX perks, enter competitions and access exclusive features.

header

Twitch is one of the most popular live streaming platforms, predominantly providing a platform for creators to share their love for video games. Among the many notable internet stars birthed by Twitch are the platform’s unofficial king and queen, Imane “Pokimane” Anys and Felix “xQc” Lengyel, respectively, and fellow streaming icons, Amouranth, Shroud, Ninja, Tfue, and more.

Despite being centered around video games, Twitch has expanded into several other categories, broadly including Games, IRL, Music, Esports, and Creative. As a result, Twitch attracts a diverse array of people from different parts of the world. According to a 2021 stats report, Twitch broke all its previous records and reported a revenue of over $2.3 billion while fielding over 2.84 million concurrent viewers globally.

Ultimately, Twitch provides a service whereby viewers can watch other people play games, compete in esports tournaments, explore the natural world in IRL streams, or simply engage in stimulating conversations in real time. Beyond this, Twitch also encourages its users to set up streaming channels and broadcast the games people love to watch. 

The Twitch Story

The concept for Twitch was the brainchild of founders Justin Kan and Emmett Shear and launched as Justin.tv in 2007. However, the website was limited, featuring only a single channel of its co-founder, Justin Khan, who used it to broadcast his daily life. Unsurprisingly, the initial model was not well-favored by its users, with many expressing disinterest in the reality show concept.

With that in mind, Kan and his team eventually allowed all the users to stream their videos online on Justin.tv and divided the site using categories for different types of content. After this decision, the website witnessed remarkable growth, particularly in gaming. So followingly, Kan and Shear decided to move the gaming section in 2011 to an entirely new platform called Twitch.

On 10th February 2014, Twitch's parent company (Justin.tv, Inc.) was renamed Twitch Interactive before being sold to e-commerce giant Amazon following a $1 billion acquisition offer several months later.

Twitch Prime

After the acquisition of Twitch, Amazon launched a Prime membership for Twitch users, which comes bundled with both Amazon Prime and Prime Video subscriptions. The Twitch Prime subscription model offers a ton of benefits to the subscribers, ranging from free games and in-game content to exclusive broadcasts and more, for a readily affordable price for most of its users.

To join Twitch prime program, users will need to have either an Amazon Prime or Prime Video account — that roughly costs around $12.99 per month and $8.99 per month, respectively. After that, simply connect your Amazon Prime to your Twitch account to gain a number of exclusive benefits on the platform. 

Prime Gaming includes the following benefits:

  • Twitch Channel Subscription - Subscribe to a Partner or Affiliate channel every month to access exclusive channel-specific and gain exclusive perks, including chat privileges, emoticons, badges, etc.

  • Member Access to Game Content - Get free items in the games, such as League of Legends and Valorant, at no additional cost.

  • Exclusive Emoticons - Unlock stickers and emotes such as KappaHD, ScaredyCat, and others, reserved only for Prime Gaming and Turbo members.

  • Expanded Chat Color Options - Set a chat color.

  • Member-Only Prime Chat Badge - An exclusive crown badge will be displayed along with the username of Twitch Prime subscribers.

  • Extended Broadcast Storage - Prime users can save their past broadcasts on Twitch for 60 days instead of the standard limit of 14

How do you make money on Twitch

Twitch has a massive audience, and many streamers rely on Twitch to earn money. In fact, for a small group of prominent creators, streaming to Twitch is a full-time job where they earn millions of dollars. If you want to pursue streaming, you should understand how you can make money on Twitch before starting your streaming journey. Here are some practical ways to generate income from your Twitch channel:

Donations

Similar to the YouTube super chat feature, the audience can donate money to their favorite streamers via PayPal or a third-party app, such as Streamlabs. Money received from donations is the primary source of income for many Twitch streamers.

Twitch Affiliate

The Twitch Affiliate program is another lucrative way to generate revenue on the platform. In addition, Twitch Affiliates can make money by streaming certain games or via Twitch Bits. Beyond this, streamers who regularly stream on Twitch (and meet specific requirements) can enroll in the Twitch Partner program.

Ad Revenue

If you regularly use Twitch, you may have noticed that Twitch occasionally shows adverts during live streams. When streamers run ads during their live stream, they receive a percentage of the advertising revenue.

Brand Sponsorships

Brand partnerships are an effective way to establish a successful career in streaming. For example, companies may reach out to individual Twitch streamers to have them promote their product during their streams. In return, the streamers are incentivized with money or other reimbursement forms.