Twitch is experimenting with a new subscription feature where users can pay a large amount of money to gift subscribers to each follower who watches a stream.
Amazon-owned Twitch has been testing new forms of gifted subscribers for a while now, including one last year where users could donate 1,000 subscribers in one go.
Now, the streaming platform is taking things to the next level with a new experimental feature called “Give Them All.”
It’s exactly what it sounds like. With the push of a button, you can gift subscriptions to every follower currently watching a stream, up to a thousand people at a time.
Twitch lets you give away subs to everyone who watches
Gifted subscriptions will only be eligible for followers who are watching and are not currently subscribed to a channel. Currently, the option only appears in desktop browsers.
However, Twitch notes that this tool may not be available all the time. “The feature is available from time to time on a small number of channels and users as we experiment,” the site explained.
According to the streaming platform, while they are trying to capture everyone, not all eligible users may receive a subscription, citing lag and latency issues in processing new followers or users joining and leaving the channel.
TwitchThere doesn’t appear to be a limit on the number of subscribers that can be gifted, meaning that if a stream is ultra-viral and has hundreds of thousands of followers watching, wealthy viewers could make massive donations.
A screenshot from Twitch shows that a user could give away subscriptions to 200 active followers for $998.
The ‘Give Them All’ option comes after Twitch’s 1000 Undergifted feature sparked controversy from a former manager who claimed they only added the feature to “squeeze every penny out of it.”
Mike Minton, Twitch’s chief product officer, disputed claims that the secondary gifting feature was added to hit revenue goals, arguing that it was added to make things easier for a small number of users gifting large amounts.
This feature is still in its experimental phase, so if you don’t see it right away, don’t worry. We’ll have to see how this new gifted sub-option develops and if it’s added to all channels.
