3 ms·

Twitch bans promotion of CS:GO skin gambling

5 points by flykespice 3y ago

pipeline_peak 3y ago
I’m so old i don’t even know wtf any of that means lol. In my day you downloaded skins for free.
stale2002 3y ago
Interesting development. For context here, twitch banned a few crypto gambling websites on its platform about a year ago. Also of note, one of those crypto gambling platforms created a competitor streaming platform because of this, and has since created a competing streaming platform called Kick.com They have poached some of twitch largest creators like XQC for 100 million, and is otherwise throwing around absurd amounts of money that they are paying for streamers. And unlike other platforms that have failed doing this in the past, it is arguable that the gambling conversions make the cost worth it. Given twitch's ~15% viewership decline since the peak of covid, layoffs, and attempts to monetize more forcefully Im not sure what they gain from continuing down this path.
- xyzzy_plugh 3y ago
  > created a competing streaming platform ... > poached some of twitch largest creator ... > for 100 million, and is otherwise throwing around absurd amounts of money that they are paying for streamers. We've literally seen this play out multiple times and ultimately Twitch has proven itself as a very difficult incumbent to displace. No streamer is going to turn down 100 million. Once the money runs out they'll all be back on Twitch.
  - stale2002 3y ago
    We have seen it play out, but there is a difference this time. Because kick is backed by crypto gambling, it is arguable that it is straight up profitable for them to do with because of the gambling conversions. Its a completely different ball game if you can get thousands of dollars from a converted user, as opposed to monetizing on ads.
xyzzy_plugh 3y ago
Wow it only took them several years[0] to ban this. 0: I remember this first being a problem over 8 years ago. The whole Phantoml0rd drama (at least relevant to CS:GO skin gambling) started in 2016

5 points by flykespice 3y ago

I’m so old i don’t even know wtf any of that means lol. In my day you downloaded skins for free.

stale2002 3y ago

Interesting development. For context here, twitch banned a few crypto gambling websites on its platform about a year ago. Also of note, one of those crypto gambling platforms created a competitor streaming platform because of this, and has since created a competing streaming platform called Kick.com They have poached some of twitch largest creators like XQC for 100 million, and is otherwise throwing around absurd amounts of money that they are paying for streamers. And unlike other platforms that have failed doing this in the past, it is arguable that the gambling conversions make the cost worth it. Given twitch's ~15% viewership decline since the peak of covid, layoffs, and attempts to monetize more forcefully Im not sure what they gain from continuing down this path.

xyzzy_plugh 3y ago
> created a competing streaming platform ... > poached some of twitch largest creator ... > for 100 million, and is otherwise throwing around absurd amounts of money that they are paying for streamers. We've literally seen this play out multiple times and ultimately Twitch has proven itself as a very difficult incumbent to displace. No streamer is going to turn down 100 million. Once the money runs out they'll all be back on Twitch.
- stale2002 3y ago
  We have seen it play out, but there is a difference this time. Because kick is backed by crypto gambling, it is arguable that it is straight up profitable for them to do with because of the gambling conversions. Its a completely different ball game if you can get thousands of dollars from a converted user, as opposed to monetizing on ads.

xyzzy_plugh 3y ago

Wow it only took them several years[0] to ban this. 0: I remember this first being a problem over 8 years ago. The whole Phantoml0rd drama (at least relevant to CS:GO skin gambling) started in 2016