Twitch has had a turbulent couple of weeks. The company faced an intense scrutiny of its gambling policies, and on September 20, Twitch announced that it would ban some types of gambling on the platform in October. Later this week a Bloomberg report exposed child robbery on the site. And that same day, Twitch introduced a hugely unpopular one change how much its streamer get paid. The collision of all these issues immediately hit a climax — leaving some streamers asking: Could we really unionize?
As for revenue sharing, The Verge reports that content creators, large and small, alike see it as an “anti-creator.” Twitch currently offers a 70/30 revenue split to its top streamers, and others have long requested that the platform spread this across all streamers instead of the 50/50 split it currently offers them. Instead, Twitch is actually moving away from that split, putting all streamers on a 50/50 split after they hit $100,000 in revenue.
The reality is streamers have already organized themselves. While streamers probably cannot legally unionize like workers at a company or factory could, they are still able to work together and even take collective action to encourage Twitch to make changes.
Twitch streamers already understand the collective power they have over the platform they use. While streamers have never organized themselves into an unofficial union or guild, they have to have gathered to push changes on the platform. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
Before Twitch’s top streamers called on the Amazon-owned company to ban slots and gambling on the platform – spearheaded by a hashtag and a proposed boycott – a number of streamers had done the same for different reasons. In 2021, Twitch users rallied behind the hashtag #TwitchDoBetter in response to the platform’s alleged inaction to curb “hate attacks” (targeted attacks on marginalized streamers). And in 2020, scores of streamers participated in a day-long blackout to respond to allegations of sexual harassment against community members.
Both of these movements prompted a response from Twitch in the form of official statements and, in some cases, policy changes.
Marginalized streamers are also often leading movements, pushing Twitch for change. “I can’t choose not to be black, femme, queer, and my life is being politicized if I want it [be] or not,” said Tanya DePass, partner twitch streamer and tabletop RPG developer. known as cypheroftyr onlinetoo igamesnews.
Twitch streamers face a number of challenges in order to unite as a collective voice. There’s a huge divide in terms of how much they make, how much they stream, and their official Twitch “status” – whether someone is an affiliate, partner, top earner, or none at all. There are more than 2 million “active stations” Twitch said on its FAQ pageof which 27,000 are partners as of 2018. The number has since grown exponentially, like the COVID-19 pandemic drove viewers to live streaming platforms.
While all of these different classes of streamers have similar concerns, their needs are very different. Twitch streamers acting as one big voice may not be possible. DePass told Polygon that if If streamers could get organized, they would probably split into groups based on official Twitch status. But they always have one thing in common: they have to abide by the rules of Twitch, whether they like those rules or not. (Twitch declined to comment on this story.)
Devin Nash, co-founder of marketing agency Novo and a streamer who left Twitch he spoke to top streamers Imane “Pokimane” Anys and Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo (the latter was later dropped from his gaming organization) about his gambling policies for his alleged role in a sexual assault cover-up) is streaming about a planned action and protest – a big strike in December. Three people – including one of Twitch’s biggest stars – talking about it in a single stream, followed by a flurry of anti-gambling discussions on social media, made the message loud enough for Twitch to hear. And not only has the platform heard, but Twitch has also done something about it.
Nash said that Twitch streamers can also be impactful with smaller audiences, and that’s not over to stop Streaming – which saves Twitch money because fewer streams need to be supported. If a large enough group streams more — a lot more — and constantly spreads its message, it could come across as an act of collective power, Nash said. That and also contacting advertisers.
“[These] Workers are at the mercy of the platform.” Rebecca Collins Givan, associate professor of ergonomics at Rutgers, told Polygon. “If they depend on them for their livelihood and the terms of the division change, they can’t really do anything individually. Your only ability to do anything is to really organize and involve enough workers that both meet [Twitch] where it hurts in terms of profit, or at least is a credible threat to hit where it hurts.”
Many people throw the word “union” around to describe how streamers might organize and use their collective power, but according to Givan, a traditional, recognized union isn’t an option for streamers (although it would be an option for Twitch). employees or workers elsewhere in the video game industry). According to the union organizer and worker in the video game industry, there are actually two definitions of “union”. Austin Kelmore. “There’s the legal definition that you can make within the guidelines of the law,” he said. “And then there’s the definition, which is about helping your peers.”
There’s obviously some overlap, but when Twitch streamers say “union,” they probably mean the latter — “building power and working together,” Kelmore said.
Givan said collective action would be most effective when the largest streamers, with the largest and widest reach, engaged alongside a significant proportion of other smaller streamers. That’s exactly what happened, on a smaller scale, with the gambling ban — even a suggestion to boycott Twitch’s most popular streamers reportedly prompted the company to respond.
Because Twitch streamers are independent, they need to draw inspiration from other platform workers, like people who are also independently contracted by a company and tied to a specific platform, be it Twitch, Uber, or Etsy.
Kristi Cassidy is a costume and dressmaker and interim president of the newly formed Indie Sellers Guild, which acts like a union for Etsy sellers. Cassidy told Polygon that Etsy has angered creators in the past by changing its terms and introducing rules and features that hurt people who depend on the platform for their livelihoods. In April, Cassidy and a group of Etsy sellers founded the Guild of Indie Sellers
The Indie Sellers Guild is still new – it officially launched in September – and its members are still finalizing the details. Still, their demands are clear: they want an Etsy that better meets their needs. Otherwise they will try to go somewhere else. One of the goals of the guild is to accredit platforms for this do to meet members’ needs and support independent sellers everywhere. Cassidy estimates that 2,000 people are currently registered in the guild, including allied members who may not have their own online store.
The other option for streamers, according to Givan, would be to work with an established union like the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which was recently formed opened up its membership to a class of workers it calls “influencers.” – that is, all content creators who do sponsored deals and post them on social media channels, including Twitch. Although the size of a streamer’s reach can vary widely – there is no minimum – not Everyone Streamers can join. Only streamers who run paid advertising on their platforms can participate. The benefit here is that a streamer can receive healthcare benefits, a pension, and assist in collective bargaining and mediation to resolve disputes between creators and brands. according to the New York Times. (However, benefits are limited to individuals who achieve a certain merit point.)
For its part, SAG-AFTRA seems to understand how entertainment is changing, and their decision to open up union membership to creators is definitely a good thing. For an industry with very little, if any, H&S, this is a start, and SAG-AFTRA has pushed for change in the video game industry before.
Whether their collective actions are called a union, a guild, or something else entirely, Twitch streamers are already organizing, and have been for some time.
“[Twitch streamers] can actually take care of people who aren’t just their peers in the top percentage of Twitch,” DePass said. “Stop worrying about seeming too ‘awake’ or being ‘cancelled’ and show some compassion and humanity for other creators.”