Determining how much a streamer earns on Twitch is much easier than determining how much a YouTuber earns on YouTube. The reason is simple: Twitch earnings depend on fixed and variable amounts. If we ignore the donation system that the platform includes, making a more or less exact weighting of the amount of money that a streamer earns is relatively simple.
Unlike YouTube, Twitch is not subject to advertiser investment, at least in its core business base. The money each streamer receives depends largely on their subscribers, as shown below.
HOW MUCH IS EARNED ON TWITCH IN 2020: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
As of this writing, a Twitch streamer’s business base depends on two avenues. The first concerns the number of subscribers to the channel, as we anticipated at the beginning of the article. Be careful. A follower is not the same as a subscriber. The first does not pay a monthly subscription, while the second does generate a direct income on our channel for practical purposes.
Currently, the subscription payment on the platform is divided into three phases: 4.99, 9.99, and 24.99 euros. The simplest subscription is the first, while the 25 euro subscription gives us some advantages associated with the streamer‘s channel. Of all these subscriptions, Twitch grants 50% to the channel owner.
In other words, a person with 1,000 subscribers receives a minimum of 2,500 euros per month, assuming that 100% of the channel’s subscriptions are basic. If 10% of these subscriptions are for 10 or 25 euros, the figure could stretch to 3,000 or 3,500 euros. But this does not stop there.
There is a second way of financing that does not depend on the number of subscribers but on the number of views. This route does depend on the advertisers since it is limited to showing ads to all those users who are not subscribed to the channel.
In this case, the amount can vary depending on the channel’s number of reproductions. It is difficult to establish a fixed amount now, especially with advertisers’ decreased investment due to the coronavirus.
ALTERNATIVE WAYS: THE DONATION BUTTON AND THE AFFILIATE SYSTEM
Like YouTube, Twitch has several avenues that allow the streamer to provide different sources of income. The best known is called Bits.
A virtual currency is a bargaining chip to donate money to a streamer.  For every 100 Bits, the streamer will receive 1 euro. In other words, if a streamer receives an average of 5,000 Bits for each live stream (for example), the amount received will be 50 euros. If this figure rises 10,000 or 20,000 bits, the streamer will receive 100 or 200 euros.
To activate this source of income, the channel account must have been previously accepted in the Twitch affiliate system. The platform’s only requirements are having a minimum of 50 followers, having broadcast at least 500 minutes in the last 30 days, and having an average of at least three simultaneous viewers. If the creator meets all these conditions, they will be accepted into the affiliate program.
The second way Twitch content creators can resort depends entirely on the affiliate system. This system grants additional advantages, such as the possibility of selling games within the channel. Of these sales, the streamer will keep 5%. If a game costs 30 euros, the streamer will receive 1.5 euros.
70/30, THE TRICK OF THE SUCCESSFUL STREAMER
We have already talked about the distribution of profits that Twitch makes to the subscribers of a channel. 50/50 is the distribution assigned by default to all content creators on the platform. But this is not always the case if our channel has a lot. And when we say a lot of success, we mean a lot of success. We are talking about people like Ninja, whose channel currently has almost 15 million followers, not subscribers since the number in question is not public.
These types of creators are assigned a special 70% profit share. Ninja keeps 70% of each subscription, while Twitch is limited to receiving 30%. The streamer himself confirmed this in an interview with Forbes magazine in 2018.
Doing a quick calculation based on the distribution assigned to the creator, Ninja could be disbursed with millions of euros every month as of today. Yes, you read it right. Millions million euros. Every month.
This distribution system could be applied to the rest of the creators who exceed a certain number of subscribers and followers, such as El Rubius, with more than 4 million followers. However, they most likely have some kind of agreement that limits these numbers.
SO HOW MUCH DOES AÂ STREAMERÂ MAKE ON TWITCH?
To determine an indicative figure and answer the initial question, we will start with a streamer with 30,000 followers and 10,000 subscribers, of which 1,000 are 10 and 25 euros, and the rest are 5 euros. This streamer receives an average of 30,000 Bits per month from the Cheers of his subscribers and around 150 game sales of 30 euros from his affiliate link.
To this, we must add the amount obtained from the advertising included in their videos for all those users who are not subscribers to the channel. Let’s count:
- Money for subscriptions : (9,000 x 2.5 euros) + (500 x 5 euros) + (500 x 12.5 euros) = 31,250 euros
- Money per Bits: 30,000 / 100 =Â 300 euros
- Money from the sale of games: 150 x 1.5 euros =Â 220.5 euros
A streamer with 10,000 subscribers would pocket 31,770.5 euros every month without counting advertising revenue. If we do not count the money for Bits, the sale of games, and the subscriptions of 10 and 25 euros, the minimum received by the content creator would be 25,000 euros. Of course, all these figures are indicative and do not reflect a real amount. But they are still figures that approximate what could be perceived.
I am a writer with eight years of experience writing in business and technology. I always carry a passion for learning and discovering new knowledge.