Twitch creates more confusion with rollback on VRChat guidelines

Twitch has left VTubers scratching their digital heads after the streaming platform announced a rollback on VRChat policies.

Following the recent news of Twitch banning VRChat streamers for “inappropriate attire,” the streaming platform has repealed its policy concerning the game as quickly as it arrived.

These changes have caused mass confusion amongst the VRChat and VTuber streaming communities, as what could be considered a bannable offense isn’t specified in the announcement.

📢 We made a change to our enforcement guidelines recently regarding the application of our attire policy to VRChat streams.

We received a lot of feedback from the VRChat community about the confusion this has caused, especially since it was not accompanied by a change to our… https://t.co/qlubRCXvzF

— Twitch Support (@TwitchSupport) June 8, 2024

The “Nudity and Attire” rules in Twitch’s terms of service briefly applied to in-game VRChat avatars until this rollback announcement quickly followed.

However, the announcement’s wording has left VTubers more concerned about their safety over being banned from the streaming platform, flooding the replies with questions.

VTuber Ley Ley asks, “If I have underboob showing on my 3D VTuber model in my VTuber software, it’s a ban. If I port that same exact model to VRC, no ban? What is even the difference here?”

Another added, “So 3D VTuber models have different rules from VRChat avatars? When a 3D model could be imported to VRChat?”

“If you’re going to have these rules not apply for VRChat streamers then the policy should apply to VTubers as well. They are basically the same thing in regards to being models and not actual human bodies.” says Vtuber Starrishi, bringing up the potential double standard this policy is setting.

Twitch allows explicit content to a certain degree as long as it occurs within the game you’re streaming. This means sexual scenes or violent situations get a pass, though it is a grey area that occasionally has resulted in temporary bans.

VRChat

Other responses attempted to dissect the exact terms Twitch is now enforcing: “They’re acknowledging that the creator does not have control over the other people in the game, and you won’t be banned for their models. You would still be banned for your own model.”

These new guidelines remain unclear at best. Hopefully, Twitch will follow up with another announcement detailing the latest policy and what’s explicitly considered against the terms of service.