Twitch is not sustainable. With price increases, changes in how subscriptions are distributed, and server closures, the platform is not doing a great job of keeping its audience happy to reverse this situation. Especially now, when they are also going to raise the price of subscriptions.
This has a catch. They will not increase subscriptions in all countries, but in a series of selected countries. Starting from March 28th, tier 1 subscription prices will increase in the UK, Canada, Australia, and Turkey. In the first three countries, it will mean an increase of one dollar/pound, while in the case of Turkey, it will be a more significant jump: it will go from costing 9.90 liras to 43.90 liras.
This may seem like it won’t affect anyone outside of the English-speaking or Turkish scene, but that’s actually not true. Although subscriptions in the UK, Canada, and Australia have increased because they believe the market can absorb the impact of that increase, in Turkey there is another possible reason. Nowadays, it is very common on Twitch to give subscriptions as gifts, where a portion of the money goes to the streamer and another to the platform. However, depending on where the subscription is from, they earn more or less money. That’s why many people in Turkey give packages of 10, 20, or 50 subscriptions, resulting in less income for the streamer and the platform than if they had given 2 or 3 subscriptions.
While Twitch has claimed that they are doing it to keep up with monetary fluctuations and that they do it for the streamers, it is more likely that they do it for themselves and the possibility of earning more money. But if that helps the streamers along the way, welcome it.
