The popular streaming platform Twitch has become the home of some of the biggest content creators in the world and has a huge influence over gaming as a whole – a successful release for a new title can simply come down to how well it had been perceived on Twitch, and it has even been the home for the launch of some of the biggest indie games in recent memory too. Whilst the platform has begun to stray away from its gaming roots in some sense with the growth of other categories like Just Chatting, its core fanbase and userbase still remain in the gaming niche – but the platform is now starting to come under growing criticism once again. While there is specific legislation to protect players in some states as Michigan Lottery options may only be available online and other states hold similar restrictions on their play options, this isn’t something considered on Twitch.
Much of the criticism comes because of a slow response to areas that have become considered a problem, with the latest coming in the form of casinos and slots – the category has been seeing huge growth over the past few months as some of the biggest content creators on the platforms have started to indulge in the genre, some of the biggest have managed to draw in tens of thousands of viewers for longer streams sometimes surpassing twelve hours per day, but there are now calls for Twitch to crack down on the practice through fears that it could have a great impact on a more influential audience.
Twitch does have a history of acting quickly from time to time, looking at the recent hot tub streaming issue that popped up prior to the gambling and slots issue, attention had been drawn and a solution had been made – although not one that many deemed suitable, it was a solution nonetheless, the concerns are now that the platform has been uncharacteristically mum about this whole gambling issue, and although some big streamers have since stepped away, it does remain one of the biggest categories on the platform still.
Many fans and some big content creators have become very outspoken about the problem, and there are many calls to completely ban it as it a very dangerous trend, and with advertisers to think about it too it’s certainly more complex than many people may previously anticipate, but something certainly does need to be done. What will be done is still very much unknown, and as stated Twitch has yet to issue any statement regarding the matter too so it is currently very much in the dark, and for now the problem seems like it will continue on down the same course with little reason to change until pressure is added, and until the position on what to expect changes too.
