Twitch announced that it is backing off of its unpopular change to branded content guidelines, only one day removed.
One day removed from an unpopular and harmful change to its branded content guidelines, Twitch is walking back its announcement. The streaming giant announced in a series of Tweets today that "We want to work with our community to create the best experience on Twitch, and to do that we need to be clear about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it."
The announced content guidelines change would have impacted the way third-party sponsorships are used by streamers, charity streams, and more. Yesterday's announcement was a PR bloodbath, with creators, journalists, and Mr. Beast himself all calling attention to its potential impact. "These guidelines are bad for you and bad for Twitch, and we are removing them immediately."
Twitch content guidelines: Back to the start
The immediate reaction to the Twitch branded content change was that of ire from the community. The removal of "burned-in ads" (ads added directly to the feed via OBS or other streaming software) accounts for a major percentage of most streamer sponsorships. In the case of charity events such as AGDQ, a majority of its advertising comes in the form of burned-in ads showing in-between games.
"Sponsorships are critical to streamers’ growth and ability to earn income," Twitch said in the posts to Twitter. "We will not prevent your ability to enter into direct relationships with sponsors – you will continue to own and control your sponsorship business."
The stepping back of the new branded content policy comes after a series of apologies from Twitch after its announcement. Initially, the company line was apologizing but now backing down from its new changes. Those posts included saying "This created confusion and frustration, and we're sorry for that."
Regardless of how hearnest that apology was or was not, Twitch has, for now, rolled back the change. Whether the damage is done or not remains to be seen. Or if the guideline changes will simply return in a more palatable form.
Despite main streaming competitor YouTube already having similar rules as to those now rolled back, it may push more and more streamers out of Twitch's doorstep.
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