What is Hype Chat? Twitch adds new paid chat option like YouTube's SuperChat

Popular streaming platform Twitch announced that it would be adding a new feature called Hype Chat, which will launch for officially partnered streamers shortly. The part will work similarly to YouTube's SuperChat, allowing viewers to spend money to pin their messages at the top of the chat.

However, the move has been criticized by some, as many Twitch streamers currently have their own Hype Chat-like system in the form of donations. Many streamers have contributions set up directly via PayPal, allowing viewers to display their message on-screen when they donate.

With Hype Chat, the Amazon-owned platform will now take a 30% cut of the revenue from Hype Chats. Although this split is identical to YouTube's SuperChat revenue split, some believe this is a step in the wrong direction for the platform.

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What is Twitch's new Hype Chat feature?

The addition of Hype Chat will be familiar to those already on YouTube, as it will work almost the same as YouTube's Superchat feature. Hype Chat will allow partnered streamers to set a minimum price between $1 and $100, which viewers can pay to have their messages pinned to the top of the chat. The maximum price for a HypeChat is set at $500.

Streamers will make a decent chunk of the money viewers pay in exchange for Hype Chats, as the revenue split is set to 70/30 in favor of the streamers. Hype Chat is also meant to coexist alongside Twitch's monetization features, such as subscriptions and Bit donations.

The similarities between Hype Chats and SuperChats were not lost on former YouTube Gaming head Ryan Wyatt.

Although Wyatt later clarified that it was all in good fun, his comment did not sit well with Twitch's Chief Monetization Officer, Mike Minton. In response, he mentioned that numerous features on YouTube livestreams were directly taken from the Amazon platform.

So far, numerous creators have expressed their concerns over Hype Chat, specifically over the revenue split. Although the 70/30 split is identical to YouTube's SuperChat split, it is a downgrade from the previous system of streamers receiving direct donations from viewers via PayPal. This has led to the criticism that this new feature is potentially a cash grab.

Although there is no official date, Hype Chat is expected to roll out to Twitch partners soon. The company plans to release the feature to non-partners sometime after launch.