Twitch no longer puts the United States at the center of the world.
The number 1 of video on demand announced, Thursday August 5, adapting the price of subscriptions or "
sub
" to French consumers.
Users will now be able to subscribe to the content creator of their choice, starting at $ 3.99 per month, up from $ 4.99 so far.
Other prices - up to 24.99 euros - are offered, but their price will not change.
In May, the platform announced, in a note, preparing subscriptions at differentiated prices depending on the regions.
Based on “
fan comments
”, the company deduced that a subscription was “
not always profitable
”.
The reason is simple, the rate was still equivalent to $ 4.99 per month, indexed to the United States.
An amount that only partially goes into the pockets of creators, about half being captured by Twitch.
Read also: How Twitch, the platform for young gamers, has become the plaything of politicians?
A very high price when compared to the cost of living in some parts of the world.
In Europe or Asia, users are 50% less likely to subscribe than in the USA.
A figure that climbs to 80% in South America.
The service has already announced different prices in Asia and South America.
The record drop is attributed to Thailand, for which the tariff falls by 57% to reach 69 Bath, around 1.75 euros.
Attractive subscriptions aimed at allowing a maximum of their 30 million users to put money into the service.
Loss of income for streamers
The primary effect of this downward pricing could be a loss of revenue for streamers. They are remunerated through various means, such as donations, but the subscription remains a great source of income. By reducing the value of a "
sub
"
by 20%,
streamers risk a significant drop in their income in the short term.
Despite a measure with unpredictable effects, the Amazon subsidiary remains confident. "
Before making this decision, we performed several price tests, noting that cheaper subscriptions boosted the number of overall monthly subscriptions and the resulting revenue for creators,
" said Twitch. But the company does not want to "
leave
anything
to chance
" and has already prepared a parachute. The platform “
will cover 100% of the starting income related to subscriptions
” for the first months, and will gradually decrease its support during the year. Remuneration which will be calculated on an average of the three months preceding the change.
This offer is of course subject to conditions: the creator must be a Twitch partner, and must be live for at least 85% of the duration observed before the change.
The service knows that changing the price of the subscription is a dangerous game.
By lowering his prices, he also lowers his income.
To prevent this risk taking costing him too much, the video leader is betting on his streamers.
“
It's critical that creators do their part by making sure their communities are well informed,
” Twitch explains
.
The ideal is to announce this update live during your stream
”.
A request that is likely to be followed, Twitch and the creators are all in the same boat.