Eager to get out of the shadow of its money-throwing green rival, Twitch on Thursday unveiled Hype Chat, a new way for its large and mid-sized streamers to earn money from viewers by allowing them to pay between $US1 and $US500 to pin messages to the live chat.
As any Twitch viewer knows, the live chat function is one of the best and most beloved parts of the platform, allowing fans to speak directly to streamers to comment on their stream, ask for advice, or request a shout out. However, as streamers get bigger, their chats do, too, making it hard for creators to respond to the hundreds or even thousands of comments sent within minutes whizzing by.
With Hype Chat, viewers have a new way to get their messages to stand out and reach streamers. As explained by Twitch, each Hype Chat message will be featured in a pin on top of the chat. The design, character length, and duration of the pin will depend on how much a viewer spends. Higher value Hype Chats will stay pinned on the chat longer and have a more distinctive design.
“Live moves fast. Partners, you have a lot going on while you’re streaming. A community filled with chatters who have something to say, and a chat experience that can at times move really fast,” Twitch said in a blog post, emphasis theirs. “That’s why we’re introducing Hype Chat, a new and additional way for your viewers to stand out and reach you. You’ll also earn a share of the revenue from each Hype Chat purchase.”
Hype Chat will live alongside other Twitch monetisation features, including subscriptions, gifts, and Bits. While Hype Chat might seem similar to Bits, or virtual goods viewers can buy to send streamers messages, Bits are mainly used to send cheermotes.
In addition, Twitch stated that Hype Chat will contain its existing safeguards, such as prohibiting viewers from sending messages that contain banned words or phrases. Hype Chats from banned users are also not allowed. On the moderation level, mods will be able to unpin Hype Chat messages from the chat they consider harmful or unwelcome.
At the moment, only Twitch partners can enable Hype Chat, though the company plans to roll it out more broadly in the future. Streamers will receive 70% of the amount viewers spend on Hype Chats, with Twitch taking a 30% cut. This is in line with the revenue split in the company’s new Partner Plus program, which gives streamers 70% of their donated subscriptions, an increase from the 50% standard split.
The Partner Plus program recently came under fire after Streams Charts, a streaming analytics service, determined that only about 2.5% of Twitch’s more than 71,000 partners would qualify for the program. Twitch did not respond to Gizmodo’s questions about whether Streams Charts calculation was accurate.
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