Twitch has quietly banned the practice of promoting gambling with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skins and similar cosmetics.
The Amazon-owned streaming platform began taking action in September 2022 by banning broadcasts containing “unlicensed” betting content. The company explained the reason for this move as taking action against gambling platforms that are not subject to US law or do not offer adequate consumer protection.
Unlicensed betting content banned on Twitch
Many popular creators like Pokimane have long demanded that Twitch ban gambling broadcasts.
One of those banned was Stake, the owner of Kick, a rival of Twitch. While some creators have welcomed the move, others like Trainwreck have criticized Twitch for its gambling ban policies, arguing that the new rules are inconsistent.
Following this step, Twitch now bans broadcasts powered by all platforms containing the company’s codes, even if not expressly banned by the company.
Twitch made this change silently by simply updating its community guidelines and added a regulation banning any streams that promote skin gambling. The wording of the renewed policy may indicate that the ban is not limited to just sponsored content, but targets all cosmetic gambling streams on Twitch.
Broadcasts containing traditional legal bets will be able to continue
Per Twitch’s current community guidelines, the platform will still allow broadcasts that include traditional sports betting, poker and fictitious leagues. Broadcasts with betting content with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skins have long been a controversial topic among Twitch audiences and other users out there.
While there are those who feel that such content should be carefully edited and, in the worst case, contain warnings about the dangers of gambling addiction, there are also those who feel that it should be banned altogether. Because they think such publications encourage gambling among minors.
Many Counter-Strike: Global Offensive streamers popular on Twitch have long been earning income from broadcast sponsorships. Banning all this content outright could result in a significant reduction in revenue on the platform and even lead to massive abandonment of content creators.