The Twitch Partner rules around exclusivity have changed. Platforms like YouTube and Facebook are now open to streamers and content creators.

If you’re a content creator who dreams of making a living through streaming, you’d be wise to utilise multiple platforms. Sharing content across numerous social media channels and video platforms greatly increases your chances of earning revenue. That’s because you’re going to pull in a bigger audience.

To earn money on YouTube, you need to meet some requirements. This involves reeling in a certain number of subscribers. To do this, you need to make sure you’re regularly sharing fantastic content. Unsurprisingly, this takes some effort, work, and time.

Ever heard the phrase, “work smart, not hard”? This ethos is pretty crucial to cultivating a successful and sustainable career as a content creator. The key is to create content you can share on multiple platforms.

If Twitch has been your preferred main platform, doing this will have been difficult until now.

Twitch Partner Exclusivity

First things first, what is a Twitch partner?

Well, to become a Partner, you first must become an Affiliate. Okay, so what’s a Twitch Affiliate?

That’s enough questions, it’s time for some answers. The Twitch affiliate programme is what allows you to start earning money on the platform. Just like with YouTube, you need to meet some requirements before you can join.

After you’ve become an Affiliate, you can work towards becoming a Partner. The requirements for this are a little higher, asking you to complete the Path to Partner Achievement process. After a review process, you could then be accepted as a Partner.

Once you’re a Partner, you can earn revenue based on how popular your streams were, as well as unlocking the ability to charge channel subscription fees. Basically, Twitch Partner status is where you can really become a pro streamer.

However, the rules were that Twitch Partners could not share live content on other platforms. This kind of hampered the “work smart” attitude, as it stopped creators reaching wider audiences on multiple platforms. Thankfully, Twitch has had a rethink.

New Twitch Partner Rules

Hooray, Twitch has new rules. Or, rather, Twitch has lifted rules. Even better!

Last Tuesday, Twitch emailed its Partners, detailing the lifting of its previous exclusivity restrictions. Twitch told its streamers, “Starting today, you are now allowed to create live content on other platforms.”

This certainly opens up more opportunities for creators to be flexible, as well as connect with bigger audiences. However, there is a caveat to this announcement.

Creators can share live content on other platforms so long as they aren’t simultaneously streaming on Twitch. Having this move restricted – which is referred to as “simulcasting” – is a blow, since that really would allow creators to work smart. The reason for this? Twitch believes that “engaging with two streams at once can lead to a sub-optimal experience for [a creator’s] community.”

Fortunately, if you use mobile platforms like TikTok and Instagram Live, you can in fact stream simultaneously across Twitch and these sites.

This change to the Twitch partner rules could be a bid to stop high profile streamers being lured onto other competitor platforms, like YouTube. DrLupo switched to YouTube Gaming last year, which could have been among one of a few wake-up calls for the streaming platform.