Twitch Begins Letting Partners Stream to Other Platforms… Kind Of

Twitch has maintained a policy of exclusivity on their platform for their streaming partners that restricted them from live streaming on any other platform.  Those terms appear to be loosening but are not completely gone. An email was sent to partners stating that Twitch Partners will now be allowed to stream to other services including Twitch competitors like YouTube and Facebook, but there are some major terms to this move. 

TL:DR:

• Twitch now allows partners to stream off-site
• Partners can fully simulcast to mobile apps (TikTok)
• Partners can do a limited streams on web apps (YouTube, Facebook)
• Details of the limits are a bit “grey” to say the least

The policy of complete exclusively ended as soon as partners received their email, but the terms of the partnership still limit how those streamers can stream to other platforms.  Mobile-focused platforms like TikTok and Instagram have no limits to how the streamers can use them and fully allow simulcasting their streams to these apps.  However, web-focused platforms like YouTube and Facebook do not allow simulcasting a stream for ‘an extended time”.

What is an “extended amount of time”?  Well, no one knows as that is exactly how it is detailed in the new FAQ and that means it will likely be enforced on a per-case basis.  Steamers can jump to a second platform with their stream and then stream limitlessly on that platform if they are not also streaming to Twitch at the same time.

Twitch says these terms are solely to help creators build a stronger community as simulcasting “leads to sub-optimal experiences for your community”, but only on platforms that directly compete with Twitch.