Twitch reverses course on sponsorship changes: "These guidelines are bad for you and bad for Twitch"

(Image credit: Twitch)

Twitch says it's "immediately" removing guidelines it announced yesterday that would have limited sponsored ads in streams.

Shortly after Twitch announced rules limiting sponsorship, the streaming community roundly rebuked the changes for obvious reasons, even going so far as to devise wild plans to circumvent the proposed guidelines. However, less than 24 hours after the announcement was made, Twitch apologized and called the rules "overly broad," promising they were never intended to "limit streamers’ ability to enter into direct relationships with sponsors."

Now, we have a more direct reversal from Twitch, which is now calling its own rules "bad for you and bad for Twitch" and pledging to "remove them immediately."

"Sponsorships are critical to streamers’ growth and ability to earn income," reads a tweet from Twitch. "We will not prevent your ability to enter into direct relationships with sponsors – you will continue to own and control your sponsorship business.

"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. We appreciate your feedback and help in making this change."

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. We appreciate your feedback and help in making this change.June 7, 2023

While this certainly seems like an immediate and full reversal from Twitch, not everyone's fully satisfied. For example, plenty of folks are pointing out that the company's terms of service still dictate that third-party ads can't be embedded into a livestream, which was a main point of contention with streamers. Whether that verbiage stays or not is yet to be seen, but it's definitely worth noting that not every controversial change appears to have been completely reversed.

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After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.