Long-time Twitch partner slams platform for taking higher share of sub money without warning

Twitch streamer Nathan ‘Nathanias’ Fabrikant has criticized the platform after they apparently increased their cut of subscription payments from his channel, without prior warning.

In 2021, the true value of subscribers has been more prominent than ever. Ludwig’s legendary 31-day subathon saw him become the most-subscribed streamer in Twitch history.

As part of this success, however, Twitch was able to take a large cut of the money Ludwig made from subscriptions, with the total taken by the platform estimated to be over $900,000.

While subs are a key part of Twitch’s profitability for Amazon, they also provide fans of streamers the opportunity to become a vital form of support and give streamers a core source of income. As a result, the amount streamers take from subs can often be make or break for them.

On May 14, Fabrikant, who has been streaming on the platform since 2011, blasted Twitch after he discovered they were taking an extra 20% share of the money he receives through subscriptions.

“I was excited to discover today that Twitch reverted my sub split, thankfully in the middle of a pandemic where I lost a lot of subs so that it can be even harder to get by,” he said.

“It’s nice to have such great support from a company I’ve worked with for almost 10 years.”

“Last year my stream tanked as people told me they couldn’t afford subs with job loss, and I still commentated a Twitch-sponsored tournament series all year long.

“It was bad enough spending my house savings in bills during a pandemic. Now I’m supposed to start over from square 1 while banned people keep their 70% splits.

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“This has really ruined my day. I struggled with depression, massive loss of work and a push to better myself that not everyone was able to stay on the ride for.”

He later revealed a response from Twitch support, who said they would not be reversing their decision. The message, believed to be automated, said: “Twitch is not able to fulfill your request for higher revenue shares at this moment. We will be proactively reaching out to partners when they are eligible for this.

“Unfortunately, we cannot share more details regarding the specifics of this yet, but be on the lookout for more public information on this in the future. We are committed to investing in improving the Partner program and help all Partners continue to earn revenue while streaming on Twitch.”

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It’s believed that most streamers start with a 50% sub split, but some streamers receive a preferential 70% split instead. Subscription costs vary based on tiers: $4.99 for tier 1, $9.99 for tier 2, and $24.99 for tier 3.

Dexerto has reached out to Fabrikant for comment.