Can streamers gamble on Twitch? Guidelines regarding controversial livestream content explored

Currently, no streaming platform in the world compares to Twitch in terms of viewership. With an average of more than 2 million, this Amazon-owned site holds great responsibility for the content it hosts.

Utilizing gambling as content for Twitch streams has been a controversial subject, with many developments over the years leading to the curbing of the activity on the platform and an eventual prohibition of specific streaming gambling sites.

This article explores the meaning of this ban and the content still permissible on the platform.

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Gambling on Twitch: Context of the ban, its extent, and allowed content

Gambling currently enjoys only a limited status within the Twitch ecosystem. (Image via Twitch)

Gambling on content-creation websites like YouTube and Twitch has been a known phenomenon for many years, with one of the most problematic instances occurring in 2016. YouTubers TmarTn and Syndicate had advertised a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skin-gambling site and encouraged fans and other creators to play on a site they had apparently discovered.

The videos of their gambling endeavors showed it as an easy way to earn quick money, which attracted viewers. It was revealed that both TmarTn and Syndicate were part owners of the site and had not disclosed this fact.

Prior to October 2022, gambling content was allowed, and several creators had built their channels around this content, such as xQc and trainwreckstv. They were sponsored by gambling websites and often played using credit provided by these portals rather than their own money.

Eventually, gambling and slots became the most watched categories on Twitch. As per data provided by streamscharts.com for the time between January and September 2022, the category received more than 308 million hours watched, became one of the top 10 categories on the platform per watch time, and had the highest average viewers per channel of 1,043.

The platform's first controversy with gambling came when Counter-Strike: Global Offensive streamer Slicker scammed fans and fellow content creators out of $200,000 to spend on his CS:GO gambling addiction, focused on the outcome of the esports matches rather than slot machines.

In response, many big streamers on the platform, like Imane “Pokimane,” Matthew “Mizkif,” and Devin Nash, coordinated a boycott.

The platform then announced a policy update in September 2021, announcing its decision to prohibit streaming gambling sites that include slots, roulette, and dice games that are not licensed in the United States or any other jurisdiction that provides sufficient consumer protection.

Policy update on gambling. (Image via safety.twitch.tv)

On October 18, 2022, in a post on the platform's Safety Center, this policy update was enforced while specifying the gambling sites that the streamers were prohibited from broadcasting.

Afterward, on August 2, 2023, the platform posted on X that it's expanding the ban on live streams of gambling content on the platform, adding two additional gambling sites, Blaze and Gamdom, to the list of prohibited portals.

It was further stated that gambling viewership had dropped by about 75%, showcasing an immediate impact of the policy changes. The site also talked about how the main focus of its moderation is to better protect the community from scams and related harm.

CS:GO skin gambling promotion and sponsorships have been banned. Image via safety.twitch.tv)

Notably, an update to community guidelines has also formalized banning the promotion or sponsorship of CS:GO skin gambling.

Skin gambling can be understood as the use of in-game skins as a virtual currency to place bets on the outcome of professional matches or other games of chance. On the other hand, fantasy sports, sports betting, and poker are still permitted on the site.

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In response to the ban, a rival platform providing relaxed moderation policies and the freedom to gamble called Kick was launched in 2022, making headlines after signing major names, such as xQc and Adin Ross, to the platform in multi-million-dollar deals.