This weekend, Twitch's biggest streamers meet for TwitchCon, but the run-up has seen the platform embroiled in intense backlash and controversy

• The annual livestreaming and gaming event TwitchCon begins on October 7.
• In recent weeks, Twitch has faced criticism and backlash over policy decisions.

On the weekend of October 7, thousands of streaming influencers, fans, and gaming industry professionals are set to attend TwitchCon in San Diego, California, an annual convention hosted by Twitch, the Amazon-owned livestreaming platform.

Some of Twitch's biggest names, including Pokimane, xQc, and Heelmike, are set to attend the event, and Twitch has lined up A-list talent, including Megan Thee Stallion and Kim Petras, to perform. But the event's timing couldn't be worse; the platform is facing a wave of criticism from creators and viewers over its handling of several issues, including revenue sharing and child safety concerns.

The event itself has also drawn criticism, as people complained that Twitch ponied up big bucks for Megan Thee Stallion to perform at the conference while cutting creators' pay, and separately, expressed concern over the event's COVID-19 safety regulations.

Twitch has lost some of its top streamers in recent months to rival platforms, as creators complain that death threats, sexual harassment, and child predation continue to plague the platform, and these issues have dominated the conversation surrounding Twitch and TwitchCon in recent weeks. ScreenRant's Thomas McNulty wrote that they "risk tearing the platform apart," despite Twitch's long-held position as a top platform for gamers and entertainers to share live content with fans.

Twitch did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Twitch faced backlash after announcing a reduction in payment for specific content creators

There are several ways to make money on Twitch, including running commercials during streams and viewer donations. Viewers can also support streamers by paying to subscribe to their channel.

Most creators receive 50% of their revenue from subscriptions, though Twitch has offered a small group of popular creators a more significant share — 70% of their subscription revenue. But on September 21, the platform announced it would be rolling this system back. This elite group of creators would only be able to get a 70/30 revenue share on the first $100,000 they made.

All new agreements with creators going forward would remain at 50%, the platform announced.

A blog post announcing the shift also advised creators to make up for the financial loss by joining Twitch's Ads Incentive Program, which allows creators to earn a fixed, guaranteed payment for running ads in the streams.

Several big-name streamers voiced their displeasure following the announcement.

Gamer Valkyrae, who has over 1 million followers on Twitch, tweeted, "Strange being at a YouTube event rn directly speaking to executives while Twitch greeds for profit. Killing your viewerbase w/ more ads and hurting the backbone of your company, the creators."

Streamer Asmongold tweeted that "excessive ads are killing Twitch," writing, "Like if you've ever clicked off a stream because of too many ads."

Some creators expressed interest in switching platforms, following streamers like Ali "Myth" Kabbani and Sykkuno, who transitioned from Twitch to YouTube earlier this year. RTGame Daniel accused Twitch of taking "advantage of their viewers and creators," and said that YouTube, which offers a rival service, is "looking better for livestreaming by the day."

"What a mess. Owned by Amazon and acting like some amateur platform," YouTuber Jacksepticeye tweeted. "It's no wonder so many of your partners are jumping ship to YT."

Then, just over a week after Twitch's new payout system was made public, the company revealed the line-up for its annual event TwitchCon, which included rapper Megan Thee Stallion and singer Kim Petras as headliners.

Though many were excited about the line-up, some highlighted the disparity between booking a star of Stallion's caliber and Twitch's assertion that the reduced revenue was due to the platform's high running costs.

According to All American Entertainment, Megan Thee Stallion's booking fee starts at $200,000.

Streamer Sacriel, a Twitch partner, accused the company of "gaslighting" creators by cutting pay and "following it up with some flashy expensive show."

Twitch pivoted on Covid-19 requirements for TwitchCon after the community expressed concerns

TwitchCon's initial health guidelines, announced in August, did not require proof of COVID-19 vaccination or testing, nor would it require attendees to wear masks, although they were "encouraged" to do so. Many criticized this decision, The Washington Post reported.

Twitch streamer Pamela L. Gay wrote on Twitter that she would not be attending TwitchCon due to their lax guidelines. "TwitchCon, I'm not going to die for you. Us immunocompromised streamers are just staying home," she said.

Stephen Spohn, a video game industry advocate for people with disabilities who is also a Twitch ambassador, advised people to "skip" TwitchCon until the company "decides to take the safety and health of its employees (streamers & staff) seriously."

Devin Nash, a gamer who also co-founded a talent agency that works with many top Twitch streamers, said he would also be "opting out" of TwitchCon, and urged organizers to "do the bare minimum to keep people well."

Following the backlash, TwitchCon changed its guidelines to "to help keep people safe," requiring proof of either vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test, as well as masks to be worn indoors.

Many were pleased about the stricter safety measures but argued that they should have been in place from the start.

Streamers have called for gambling content to be banned from the platform

While users can't directly gamble on Twitch, the platform does allow creators to stream slot machines, sports betting, and other gambling sites. Many streamers can also offer referral codes to play online gambling games generated from sponsorship deals. According to TwitchTracker, "Slots" is the 10th most-watched category on the platform, while WIRED reported that "for impressionable viewers, watching their favorite streamers place bets can be a gateway to an expensive, sometimes illegal, potentially life-ruining addiction."

In recent weeks, several high-profile Twitch streamers have called on the platform to ban gambling content after UK-based streamer ItsSliker — real name Abraham Mohammed — came clean about a gambling problem.

Mohammed said he received $200,000 from various other streamers and viewers by telling them he'd been erroneously locked out of his bank account and needed cash while he sorted it out, though he later admitted to using the money to fund a gambling addiction.

In light of ItsSliker's admission, influential Twitch streamers including Pokimane, Devin Nash, Mizkif, Ludwig, and Hasan Piker encouraged Twitch to ban gambling content and threatened to boycott the platform in protest if they didn't act fast.

Ludwig wrote on Twitter, "It's time @Twitch does something about gambling streams," adding that he is working with streamer xQc to pay back people who gave money to ItsSliker.

In September, following the controversy, Twitch announced a policy shift.

"We'll be making a policy update on October 18 to prohibit streaming of gambling sites that include slots, roulette, or dice games that aren't licensed either in the US or other jurisdictions that provide sufficient consumer protection," it said. However, sports betting, fantasy sports, and poker sites will still be permitted.

Streamer Nash criticized Twitch for not doing enough, writing on Twitter that their new policy "leaves plenty of room for gambling to remain on the website come October 18."

There are also child safety concerns on the platform

In September, Bloomberg's Cecilia D'Anastasio reported on research that found that nearly 2,000 users on Twitch existed solely to find, follow, and groom children.

The research found that reports of child predation on Twitch increased by 1,125% during the COVID-19 pandemic and approximately 279,000 children were targeted.

A spokesperson for Twitch told Bloomberg, "We know that online platforms can be used to cause harm to children, and we have made extensive investments over the last two years to better stay ahead of bad actors and prevent any users who may be under 13 from accessing Twitch," including quadrupling its investment in its law enforcement team.

"Even one single instance of grooming is abhorrent to us, and if it's valid, the data you reference demonstrates that we are not offering the level of protection we strive for yet — which is deeply upsetting," Tom Verrilli, Twitch's chief product officer told the outlet.

In light of these revelations, many have called for Twitch's big-name streamers to address the issue. Kiwisong, a streamer with under 10,000 followers, tweeted, "Hey big Twitch streamers. Since you care so much about fixing the platform from its gambling problem, I think the obvious next step is to pressure Twitch to fix its child predation problem."

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