Twitch CEO explains why platform suddenly hiked sub prices on mobile

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has revealed why the site decided to hike the cost of Tier 1 subs on mobile, explaining that it’s for streamers’ benefit.

On August 21, Twitch announced that the cost of subs on mobile would be going up again in 40 countries, rising all the way up from $5.99 to $7.99 in the United States on October 1.

Users were not big fans of this move, with many noting how Twitch had already upped the cost of subs earlier in the summer.

Following the announcement, some streamers were curious about what this increase would mean for their revenue.

“Are the streamers seeing an increase to their revenue too? When the price went from $4.99 to $5.99, we kept our split with that extra dollar?” GrenaderJake asked. “Is that the same with the increase to $7.99, or are those $2 completely unseen by the streamer?”

This prompted Twitch CEO Dan Clancy to chime in, placing the blame for the sub cost increase on Apple and Google while claiming that the change was made to help creators.

“The simplest way to think of it is that you make the same amount from a subscription whether it is desktop or mobile,” Clancy said. “Without this change, then the streamers makes less money when a subscription occurs on mobile due to the app store tax.”

Apple and Google take a 30% cut of payments on mobile, so this change appears to off set that cost a bit, but it’s worth noting that the cost for subs on mobile is going up 33.3%.

For those who don’t want to deal with the sub increase on mobile, streamer FlashForce revealed how users can bypass the price hike by subscribing through a web browser as opposed to the Twitch app.