Amazon is removing ad-free viewing from the Twitch Prime subscription

Since the streaming platform was absorbed by Amazon, the Twitch Prime subscription has offered a range of goodies, from a free channel subscription, exclusive in-game content and even games themselves. The main reason people often made sure to continue paying, however, was the ability to view content without advertisements which has now been relegated to the higher priced Twitch Turbo tier.

New Twitch Prime members will lose the benefit of ad-free viewing from September 14th, while those already continuing the £7.99 per month subscription will lose the perk on 15th October. Those on an annual £79 subscription will be able to utilise the feature until their subscription comes up for renewal. To continue ad-free viewing, users will need to opt for a further $8.99 subscription to Twitch Turbo.

Amazon made the controversial decision in order to help Twitch streamers, as advertising makes up a lot of the monetary support a lot of streamers get. Users can still use the included free Prime subscription to get ad-free content with their favourite streamer, allowing money to still reach the pocket of the content creator. Prior to this, each broadcaster simply lost a chunk of revenue.

All I used Amazon prime for anymore was ad free viewing pic.twitter.com/oWACh0mu1Q

— Bitsy (@Bitsy__) August 21, 2018

“This change will strengthen and expand that advertising opportunity for creators so they can get more support from their viewers for doing what they love,” explains the blog post. “We want Twitch to remain a place where anyone can enjoy one-of-a-kind interactive entertainment, and ads allow us to continue making Twitch the best place for creators to build communities around the things they love and make money doing it.”

Of course, the decision has been met with backlash as a lot of users come forward with threats of cancelling their subscription. For many, their choice to subscribe was solely hinged on the ability to view without advertisements, going as far to shun the extra content in favour of an ad-free experience to return.

Given the severity of the backlash, rival streaming services led by YouTube Gaming, Microsoft’s Mixer, Facebook Gaming and Valve’s upcoming Steam.TV are sure to benefit as users look to get their fix of content elsewhere.

KitGuru Says: I can understand Amazon’s move, although it’s difficult to see how this will benefit both viewers and content creators. Hopefully the system isn’t abused by streamers, who can choose when an ad hits the screen. It would be beneficial for when they take a break or go momentarily AFK, however. How do you feel about the change up?

Become a Patron!