Twitch is undoubtedly a leader among live-streaming platforms. People stream games, music, art, talk shows or just about anything on Twitch. Streamers on Twitch can earn revenue by becoming an affiliate or a partner.

A Twitch Partner receives many additional perks over an affiliate account as they have a higher subscriber base. Partners with huge subscribers can negotiate a deal with Twitch on the subscription fee cut which is roughly 50% for each affiliate.

But Twitch partners have restrictions too.

As a partner, Twitch, until today, forbade you to live stream on other platforms such as youtube or Facebook. It was an exclusivity clause for all partners. But as of August 23, Twitch has removed some restrictions.

On August 23, Twitch emailed partners to confirm the removal of the exclusivity clause.

“Starting today, you are now allowed to create live content on other platforms. This means you have more flexibility to explore how to use different, off-platform features to further build your community and interact with streamers off Twitch.

“We still believe that Twitch is the best place for creators to build and engage with their community,” the announcement continued. “We also recognize that the digital landscape has changed since we first introduced the Partner Program and that many of you engage with your communities in many different places.”

I have a lot of questions, and I am sure you do too. Like

• Why would Twitch make such a move? What is in it for Twitch?

• Is there a catch we are missing?

• Why is this being talked about in a newsletter focusing on crypto and Web3?

So, today’s letter is focused on exploring the answers to these questions. But first, are you subscribed to our newsletter? If not, why wait, just enter your mail address and subscribe now.

What is in it for Twitch?

Why would a platform give up the exclusivity clause for a product that brings in millions of dollars in revenue? Simple - competition and retention.

There is speculation of a mass exodus of partners from Twitch for a few years now. It began with the platform’s biggest streamer "Ninja" who signed a contract with Microsoft-owned Mixer in 2019

Several streamers followed the path and moved away from Twitch to other platforms like Facebook, Youtube Gaming, Mixer and more.

This has been happening for many years now. It was also reported in April that Twitch was reducing the share of partners from subscription fees in exchange for removing the exclusivity clause

So it may seem that Twitch has removed the exclusivity clause to remain competitive with other platforms while retaining their top partners who generate revenue for them via paying subscribers.

The CEO of Polygon studios, former chief at Youtube Gaming praised the move via a tweet today.

Ryan Wyatt @Fwiz

Honestly, I give so much love to @Twitch for doing this! It’s the right thing to do to remove exclusivity imposed on creators for so long. You don’t see these policies on other video platforms that monetize. Major props to @eshear & the @Twitch team on this change! https://t.co/Vmdb9eOD60

Shelfy @RealShelfy

This is a very big deal not just for content creators but the longevity of twitch. Forcing its partners to only use their platform was a gigantic problem for me and I know many others. You will see me fire up from time to time over there again. https://t.co/wm5UN0MXd7

1:52 PM ∙ Aug 23, 2022

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143Likes11Retweets

Polygon studios have built services for NFT, Gaming, and Metaverse projects that are on the Polygon protocol. It won’t surprise anyone to see a streaming platform with Web3 ethos come out of the company in near future.

Hence, Twitch’s move is beneficial to their own self at a macro level. If Twitch continues to provide tools for their partners that give them an edge over other streaming platforms, it will incentivise the partners to build communities across platforms but promote Twitch as the primary residence of the streamer online. If the partner promotes Twitch, the subscribers should follow.

What is the catch?

Twitch may have removed the exclusivity clause, but there is one tiny catch.

The change explicitly states that streaming on two platforms at once, such as an entire stream on both Twitch and YouTube at the same time, is still not allowed. However, live streaming simultaneously on short-form mobile services” like TikTok and Instagram live is allowed.

Twitch will do a live stream on August 25, to give further details or answer streamers’ questions. We will update this letter once more clarifications are out.

What is in it for Crypto and Web3?

Now for the final and most important question of the day. Why is this being talked about in a newsletter focusing on crypto and Web3?

One thing we learned from today’s announcement is that the landscape of online gaming and streaming is changing rapidly. Communities are divided across platforms and they cannot be forced into one platform. So platforms can only rely on tools, services and content creators to bring in users and retain them. It won’t take long for a user to move on if incentives do not align.

What Web3 promises is giving the community the ability to not only choose the platform but also be owners and decision makers for their own data. This is the DNA of Web3's future.

Web2 giants like Twitch allowing partners to build communities on multiple platforms only show how important and ahead in concept Web3 already is. There cannot be exclusivity clauses in true Web3 development. It has to remain decentralized, users have to have a choice to move in and out of platforms. Perhaps even have seamless interoperability. We aren’t there yet though.

We continue to see Bridges are still central points of failures, Metaverses and NFT collections still cannot align with other platforms, and the awareness and onboarding of users on metaverse platforms are still low. But it seems like only a matter of time before the folks flock on to Web3 native platforms.

This was always the plan for Web3 and Web2 is catching up, albeit they still remain very centralised.

In Other News:

1. Pavel Durov, Telegram's founder launched an idea of a place to utilize NFT-like smart contracts to trade popular user names. The idea came after spotting the success of "The Open Network" blockchain designed by them. Putting reserved @ usernames, group and channel links for auction can bring enormous success to Telegram with its 700 million users. Read more.

2. The crypto hacks have led to an increase in demand for security experts that are drawing more than $430,000 per year. Crypto security auditors with experience in blockchain technology, cybersecurity and cryptography have been in demand forthwith. Read more.

3. Savings rates on crypto holdings have increased across lending platforms, despite several high-profile lending firms collapsing in June and July.  Read more.