Twitch Discontinues Mid-Stream Ads Following Heavy Backlash

Twitch recently rolled out a mid-stream ad feature, which played ads during livestreams that the streamer had no control over. Following the announcement, both streamers and viewers expressed their displeasure on Twitter, asking Twitch to remove the feature. It seems that Twitch has heard about user opinions and is now in the process of discontinuing the feature.

Users have stated that the mid-roll ad feature will disrupt the viewing experience and cause the viewer to miss out on interesting content in the live stream. Even though some people might say that this is a trivial complaint since streams tend to be hours in length, others don't think the same way. Popular streamer SmilinDominator was hit with a mid-roll ad during the Sony PlayStation 5 showcase, showing how disruptive the feature can be. SimilinDominator received a 30-seconds long unskippable ad, causing him and his viewers to miss out on the Hogwarts Legacy reveal trailer.

As a result of these incidents coming to light, Twitch has decided to discontinue the mid-roll ads feature. The company also stated in a tweet that it is thankful to the community for voicing their opinion and getting their voice heard. But, Twitch went on to say that ads are "an essential part of keeping Twitch freely available." The company also stated that it will continue working with streamers to give them more control over how ads work during streams.

It is still confusing to understand what Twitch means when it says that ads will keep the platform going freely. Twitch already gets 50 percent of every subscription, which is $2.50 for Tier 1 subscriptions. Now that some streamers have thousands of subscribers, Twitch is likely making a considerable profit from subscriptions alone.

All in all, it's good to see that users have voiced their displeasure on Twitter, causing Twitch to end its automated and disruptive mid-roll ads.