"We still believe in the value of pinned messages" - Twitch announces update to controversial Hype Chat

Twitch announced Hype Chat in June 2023, and fans were not excited to say the least. It wasn’t a terrible idea in theory, but the fact that fans could pin messages to the chat log with unfiltered access could have led to some disastrous results. On top of that, how much they paid was dependent on factors like character limit and how long it would stay pinned. This was not a popular choice, and so the Amazon-owned platform decided to reveal some future changes.

On November 9, 2023, Twitch revealed that changes are coming to Hype Chat. Instead of what it had initially planned, it's going to focus more on Cheering and Bits. While users will have to wait for the patch notes later on in the month, the platform did decide to walk back the unpopular monetization strategy:

"We still believe in the value of pinned messages in fast-moving chats; viewers will still be able to pin Cheers with Bits in the coming weeks."

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Social media responds to changes to Twitch’s Hype Chat

There were many on social media glad to see this change (Image via X.com)

This was largely received as a positive change for the Amazon-owned website, even if there aren’t any clear indicators yet. While the official announcement won’t be available until 12pm on November 15, the platform did post an FAQ. It wasn’t filled with details, but it did say that all Partners and Affiliates will be able to pin Cheers to their channel in a similar manner, and can use Cheering to pin a message.

Many wanted to highlight the greed of the original announcement (Image via X.com)

Other Twitter users highlighted the real problem with the Hype Chat system. It wasn’t the pinned messages, it was that the revenue split was horrific, and it wasn’t fair to the people using it at all.

A Twitch Ambassador showed how things will look (Image via X.com)

One user showed Twitter users what pinned Cheers will look like, and pointed out that it’s now in the Hype Chat Help article. According to this user, the option to pin the Cheer is disabled unless a certain minimum threshold is met. This appears to be set by the channel itself.

X.com users called for the Partner split to be fixed (Image via X.com)

While much of the conversation was focused on the topic at hand, many took the time to air grievances with the platform in hopes that Twitch staff would listen. Instead of Hype Chat, one of the biggest talking points was centered around Twitch Partner Plus, and the 70/30 split. Many want this changed, so all Partners receive this benefit.

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The official announcement for Hype Chat will come from Twitch on November 15, 2023. Users will just have to wait and see if it winds up being a beneficial change as the simulcast update was, or if this will be more of the same from the platform.