Twitch will update its gambling policies on October 18, according to a statement the company posted to its Twitter account, acknowledging the recent upsurge in debate and discussion about gambling on the platform.
“We will be making a policy update on October 18 to prohibit streaming from gambling sites that contain slots, roulette or craps games that are not licensed in the United States or other jurisdictions that offer adequate consumer protections,” the statement said Explanation. These sites include, but are not limited to, Stake, Rollbit, Duelbits, and Roobet, which Twitch may “identify” when the policy is implemented. The statement said that sites focused on sports betting, fantasy sports and poker would still be allowed.
The statement comes after popular content creators like Pokimane, HasanAbi and Asmongold called on Twitch to ban slot content on the platform; The hashtag #TwitchStopGambling started trending on Twitter earlier this week. while i live Nod, Mizkif and Devin Nash had also discussed a boycott of the plat form unless it bans gambling, in the form of a week-long content strike during the advertising season over Christmas.
News surfaced on Monday that a celebrity streamer scammed slimrs, viewers and other streamers out of over $200,000, as estimated and reported by his peers my box, waypointand The edge. Sliker known for gaming Appreciation and Counter Strike Global Offensive, admitted in a Twitch stream that he misappropriated viewer donations and instead used them to finance a gambling addiction. In the video he explained how he started playing on skins CS:GO
Twitch has already taken some measures to address gambling; In 2021, Twitch updated its policies to prevent streamers from sharing links with referral codes to sites that contain slots, roulette, or craps. However, this has not stopped the spread of gambling across the platform.
According to a report by Bloomberg, it is gambling thrives on Twitch as gambling sites sponsor streamers to play online. Streamers like xQc regularly stream slots with up to 70,000 viewers and have had deals with crypto gambling sites. At the time of publication, the Twitch category slots is the 10th most popular category on Twitch and has more than 86,000 live viewers.