Twitch introduces ‘Hype Chat,’ where you can pay money to pin your messages

And it’s only for Partners

Twitch is forever altering the way it allows content creators to make money, but it usually comes with a drawback or two. Take the recent changes to revenue splits. Some felt that this was a step in the right direction, but given that the new program comes with a bunch of boxes that need to be ticked, not everyone can benefit.

Now, there’s a new feature that’s being implemented, which could also be seen in a less-than-good light for most. According to a recent blog post, Twitch is introducing “Hype Chat,” a feature that gives viewers the chance to literally buy chat messages. The idea behind it is to let users “stand out” in the overall chat.

Amounts that can be paid for messages vary from $1 to $500 (though Twitch says that streamers can set a minimum amount up to $100). Depending on how much a viewer pays will depend on the duration of the pinned comment, as well as character length, and the visual design. All this while affording the person streaming the ability to “earn a share of the revenue from each Hype Chat purchase.”

But, as usual, not everyone will get the benefit of this new feature. The blog post goes on to say that Hype Chat is only available to Partners, so smaller channels will miss out. However, the Amazon-owned service does say that it may look into implementing this “more broadly” in the future.

For some, though, it may be too little too late to win back support. With big streaming names like xQc and Amouranth already jumping ship to rival platform Kick, things are looking a bit tough for Twitch right now, though it should be noted that it is still pulling in millions of users each month.