Twitchhas been going through a difficult time in the past year and this one is no different. Not only are theylosing some of their top creators like Valkyraeto YouTube, but it is also losing top-level executives.
Twitch is a platform where anyone can stream almost any kind of content and chat with their fans, but it’s not always perfect. From banning streamers for sometimes unjustified reasons to streamers in theMiddle East not receiving their payments, Twitch has been frustrating for creators and fans alike during recent years.
RELATED:Twitch Streaming is Back on Xbox
Twitter user and Bloomberg reporter Cecilia D’Anastasio posted a tweet explaining that top-levelTwitchexecutives have left the company since early 2022. She goes on to explain that sources have said that Twitch as a company “lacks strategy and leadership” and has lost touch with creators who are the most important thing about the platform. Continuing, the other posts in her thread say that as the execs left, the company hired new workers that didn’t feel the need to learn about the creator community and how special it is, which had contributed to a lot of the unpopular decisions made over the years. However, she also says that the company’s growth beyond just gamers helped it become more professional and diverse as more people of color and women were hired into leadership roles.
This news does give a bit more explanation as to why Twitch has been dealing with so much controversy in the past few years and what might have been going on behind closed doors. The company has never been keen on communicating with its community, onlyrecently publishing an open letter that should set better standards for Twitchgoing forward. With former and current employees further saying that the creators had not been a big part of decisions being made within the company shows just how far it has flown from its original philosophy.
There’s definitely something to be said about a company becoming more diverse and professional but being so unwilling to take the Twitch creator community into account in any decisions is a step in the wrong direction. The creators are what makes Twitch the platform that it is, different from YouTube, though similar in many ways, with the manycontroversial creator bans in 2021surrounding DMCA strikes.
This news coming out is also a step in the right direction, despite the frustration of employees and creators alike. It is even throwing around the idea of aTV and Film categoryto help bring a solution to prevent some future bans.
