Twitch CMO sparks outrage after saying the US subscription prices will "probably" increase this year 

Twitch's Chief Marketing Officer Mike Minton has caused a lot of controversy after admitting that there was a probability that subscription prices in the United States would increase within the year. This comes within hours of the announcement about the UK, Canada, Turkey, and Australia getting a substantial hike in their subscription fees.

Subscribing to channels on the Amazon-owned live-streaming service is one of the top ways fans support their favorite content creators. Even a tier 1 sub, which currently costs about 5 USD ($4.99), allows viewers access to greater benefits such as emoticons and ad-free viewing.

That said, in a recent broadcast, their CMO stated that the pricing will probably change, causing a lot of backlash on social media, with many users threatening to stop subscribing.

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"Comical how out of date their ads system is": Fans react to possible hike in Twitch prices for US citizens

Like many global online services, Twitch uses regional pricing when deciding the price for subscriptions and bits. Meaning that the cost of buying a tier 1 sub can vary drastically from country to country, based on where the viewer is based. For example, under current rules, Canadian nationals need to pay C$6.99 for a tier 1 sub while the US price is $4.99.

However, as per the new announcements made by the CMO, Tier 1 subs in Canada will cost C$7.99 starting from March 28, along with similar changes for people living in the UK and Australia. While Turkey has seen a full overhaul of the prices.

The Chief Marketing Officer appeared on a livestream shortly following the announcements and was directly asked by the audience if prices in the United States have a chance of getting hiked within this year. Here is how Minton answered the question:

"Let me say it this way, probably yes. Exactly what it will be is maybe still an open question."

The answer has naturally caused quite some concern among the Twitch community, with many people online calling out the streaming platform. As the practical outcome of subscribing to channels makes the ads go away, detractors have called them out for not implementing advertisements in a better format.

Some even compared it to how other websites, such as YouTube, handle ads on their content. Here are some of the general reactions calling out Twitch from Reddit, where the clip of Mike Minton's statements went viral.

Users comparing ads on different platforms (Image via r/LivestreamFail)

Comment byu/lovebeat619 from discussion inLivestreamFail

Comment byu/lovebeat619 from discussion inLivestreamFail

Comment byu/lovebeat619 from discussion inLivestreamFail

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As Minton mentions, nothing is concrete, but the fact that there is a probability that subscription prices in the US may go up has stirred up quite the backlash, unlike the positive reaction to the new partner plus program Twitch introduced earlier this year.