Twitch, the internet’s main destination for video game streamers and their viewers, has announced an increase in the amount of money some people will have to pay for Turbo, its ad-free premium service.
The rate for Turbo has been adjusted in all countries, going from $8.99 in the United States to $11.99 but decreasing in certain other countries. Current subscribers can keep their Turbo at the old price for three months, according to communications sent out by Twitch. The chart below, made by Twitter user Zach Bussey, shows the changes across the board.
The price hike comes along with no new features, which has enraged many. Gamers and viewers screamed into the void together, posting on Twitter, Reddit and other sites about the bad news. Some argued that the prevalence of advertisements on Twitch makes the platform unusable unless people have purchased Turbo.
Turbo gives Twitch a consistent way of making revenue, and the company claims that it shares money earned from Turbo subscriptions with creators and streamers. However, some streamers protested the idea of Turbo, arguing that it took away the incentive for viewers to subscribe to specific channels because it gives them subscriber-type privileges on all channels.
Changes seem to be coming to Twitch. The Amazon -owned company’s former CEO, Emmett Shear, who had been with Twitch since 2006, left in late March this year. Other online platforms have also raised or modified subscription models lately, including Netflix which also saw blowback from customers.
