Twitch streamers earn too much money from other people’s content – ​​one is now demanding a share

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Reactions have been extremely popular on Twitch for several years. They are a convenient way for streamers to make money, but on YouTube this type of content is causing problems. One content creator is calling for the system to change.

What is the situation on Twitch? There have been two developments on the streaming platform in recent years:

  • Reactions dominate the “meta” – these are streams in which content creators watch a video together with their viewers and add their two cents.
  • At the same time, many content creators no longer produce their own videos for YouTube, but instead stream on Twitch. Excerpts from these streams then end up on YouTube for secondary use.

    • Some Twitch streamers even have dedicated reaction channels on YouTube that they run alongside gaming content channels. Viewers can then easily consume the original video via the reaction on YouTube, but the original creator gets nothing.

    This approach is often criticized, especially when streamers contribute little of their own ideas or even leave their place and simply let other people’s content continue. One YouTuber demands a piece of the pie.

    Asmongold went viral in 2022 with his reactions to the trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.

    Twitch streamer Asmongold quips: “Stop watching streams at 3am if you don’t have any money!”

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    Reaction gets 1 million views, YouTuber goes away empty-handed

    The specific case: YouTuber Zackary Smigel posted a video about rising fast food prices on September 11, 2024. The video quickly garnered 300,000 views, but then the views plateaued. What happened?

    Twitch streamer Asmongold reacted to the video on stream and then uploaded the reaction to YouTube, where it received almost 1 million views. Smigel summed it up in a post on X:

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    The YouTuber emphasizes that he has nothing against other creators reacting to his content. His problem is not with the “player,” but with the “game” – in this case with YouTube’s system, which does not allow for any involvement for the original creators of the videos.

    What is the solution? For Zackary Smigel, the solution is obvious: YouTube should introduce a kickback system to give content creators a share of the revenue their videos generate through reactions. He believes that the necessary technology already exists.

    In the meantime, the YouTuber is asking other content creators to wait at least 10 days before uploading their reactions to YouTube. Live reactions on Twitch are not a problem. However, he and other YouTubers have found that reaction videos on YouTube take away views from the original – especially if they have the same title.

    In an update post on X, he also explained that he had spoken to Asmongold privately. His editor has made the reaction private for the time being. The Twitch streamer’s reaction can still be seen on Twitch, but the original is available on YouTube.

    The idea that YouTubers should receive some kind of share in the revenue generated by reactions to their videos is not entirely new. A German YouTuber had also complained that others were earning 16 times as much from his content as he was: Twitch streamers earn money by reacting to other people’s good content – a YouTuber demands his share

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