Featured Image Credit: SOPA Images / Contributor via Getty
Popular streaming service Twitch has been accused of 'robbing' viewers after it was discovered that permanently banned streamers were still receiving monthly subscriber payouts.
While Affiliate and Partner streamers on Twitch are eligible to receive ad revenue money that generates as they stream, most streamers will tell you that a large part of their monthly earnings comes from subscriptions.
Unlike subscribing to someone on YouTube - where you're simply electing to be alerted of their new videos - subscribing to a channel on Twitch involves actively financially supporting them every single month, with three different payment tiers for those who want to contribute that bit more.
Some streamers have been able to earn staggering amounts of money every single month for otherwise mundane streams, and many of the most popular creators of the platform often drive up their earnings through blockbuster-like 'subathons' where they're continuously live for an extended period of time.
Advert
Often viewers will purchase long term subscriptions from anywhere between a couple of months to several years, and you can also turn on auto-renew so that your subscription continuously regenerates for your favorite creators.
One major problem has emerged though, as investigated and exclusively reported by Dexerto, as it appears as if subscription payments have automatically continued despite the streamer in question having been permanently banned by Twitch.
In essence, this results in both the streamer and Twitch themselves - through, in most cases, a 50% cut of all subscription payments - continue to receive payments from viewers who haven't turned off auto renew, and reports indicate that Twitch is refusing to refund subs paid for in the months following a ban.
This directly contracts the processes laid out in Twitch's own 'Account Enforcement' guidelines, which states:
"If you are a monetized streamer who receives a temporary suspension, you will not be able to earn any revenue from Twitch monetization tools during your suspension, with the exception of recurring subscriptions that renew during the suspension period.
"If you are indefinitely suspended, you will not be able to utilize Twitch monetization tools during your suspension and existing recurring subscriptions to your channel will not renew."
However, reports stretching as far back as 2022 indicate that these guidelines were not followed and Twitch failed to suspend auto renewals for active subscriptions of perma-banned channels.
BTEW IF YOU ARE STILL RENEWED SUBBING TO ME ON TWITCH cancel it and become a member to me on YouTube instead, idk how it’s even possible twitch can ban me and still take 50% of revenue on a channel that they won’t unban but it’s quite literally robbing people.
— Tempest (@WayOfTheTempest) September 21, 2022
Then-banned streamer Tempest illustrated in a post on X: "BTEW IF YOU ARE STILL RENEWED SUBBING TO ME ON TWITCH cancel it and become a member to me on YouTube instead, idk how it's even possible twitch can ban me and still take 50% of revenue on a channel that they won't unban but it's quite literally robbing people."
Additionally, xJappa - who also received an indefinite ban from Twitch - revealed in January of this year that he was still receiving 1 month auto renewal subscription payouts despite having been suspended two months earlier.
Speaking to Dexerto, xJappa explained that he "probably [has] about 10 people who are still subscribed," and that "it's stupid Twitch allows people to still auto-renew their subscription even though I'm banned on the platform."
Some have speculated that this occurs due to the frequent nature that Twitch u-turns on their supposedly 'permanent' bans, as explained by a comment on the r/LivestreamFail subreddit:
"Twitch needs to terminate subs if the streamer is permabanned, but they don't because permanbans aren't permabans because Twitch backtracks on them so much. I get letting a sub renew if a streamer is banned for a week or a month, because terminating them would drive the streamer off platform, but permas should be for when a streamer is supposed to be driven off the platform for good."
Another within the thread added that "while the user should be more aware of what's going on with their billing, a permanent ban should [stop] your sub from being renewed."
It doesn't necessarily appear to be a consistent 'error' either, as multiple streamers who have also been perma-banned indicate within the comments that their subscriptions were suspended by Twitch following the action against their account.
"Yeah, I've also been subbed to streamers that have been permabanned and my sub did get automatically cancelled," reveals a viewer in the thread, so it doesn't appear to be a platform wide issue.
