TwitchCon 2018 was promised more revenue options for developers in extensions but we still only have bits. When are we getting subs at least, and in-extension ads were also mentioned.
This would be great news.
I would also like to know if sales are optional. It would be great to sell our extension and provide the features for free or a lower monetization cut.
This is permitted under the Terms already.
You can “gate” additional functionality behind a paywall that the streamer/broadcaster would pay to access. (not the viewer)
Aha. And then you just recognize the bits values from “Cheers” in the chat to trigger features in the extension?
No the “gating” is done in the config view/your EBS to the streamer
You cannot charge bits for access to additional features
5.1 Extensions may provide differentiated experiences or functionality to broadcasters, in exchange for compensation from broadcasters. Examples: tiered access to features or purchasable plugins to add functionality.
https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/extensions/guidelines-and-policies
Yes.
How will the extension function when viewers still need bits to use the extension / trigger the features.
Also, do you have a good example of an extension that does this? Something else than Crowd Control™.
The change to the extension is based on the broadcaster paying you. If that unlocks x y and z features, than users get access to them. You can’t just have users pay to unlock the feature.
None that I know of. Other than every single channel extension I wrote, where technically the whole extension was payed for by the streamer.
I don’t know off hand of any that do gated/paid access to other features. I know it can be done but don’t know of any examples of
Just like a corporate projects but for smaller streamers that required something special.
Pretty dope.
How come we don’t see extension builders do this?
I would rather have Twitch make it more available to the market their store (and I’m fine with paying them a cut). Just like any appstore.
Crowd Control is one example which offers additional features for both viewers and broadcasters who pay (in the form of subscribing to the Crowd Control Twitch Channel).
From my experience though it’s not something many extensions implement because viewers don’t want to using disposable income to pay a developer they don’t know when it could go to supporting the streamer they’re actually watching. And for the broadcaster, they can already work in partnership with developers by hiring them to make extensions, which is quite common for extensions limited to use on certain channels.
You are saying that features in extensions that require Bits are not interesting for viewers because some part goes to the developers?
And broadcaster go to the extend of searching, talking and negotiating with developers to purchase something only they could use.
You are saying that the current options provided by Twitch are proving to be very limited if not, unsuitable, revenue models for the platform. Right?
So what would your idea be for an improvement?
Generally speaking, only a tiny fraction of extensions with in-extension transactions generate significant profit. Many make enough to cover operational costs but not huge amounts beyond that. There are of course some exceptions, but they are a rarity. There are more cost effective ways for viewers to support the streamer (which will also be more worthwhile for the broadcaster) than extension transactions.
Broadcasters who want something designed specifically for their channel, yes. Just like more professional streamers go to artists and musicians for channel art and music to help their brand, some also commission developers to produce extensions, bots, etc… It’s not common, but it’s not unheard of either.
There should be more options, both for revenue share so that I can set my in-extension transaction to 100% to the broadcaster, but also other options such as ads, and subscription benefits, in some form. If you want suggestions, go look at UserVoice, that’s where feature requests are appropriate.
What kind of budgets are we talking about here?
What features do you want?
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Just give me a rough estimate. I really don’t know what a streamer would invest in their stream on software.
a small project $… (lets say a simple voting system)
big project $…(bits and subs integration, messaging system and quality design)
Would the streamer own the extension?
For a quality design, production, all the testing and the hours to learn how to submit a quality extension on Twitch… I’m skeptical but hope to be surprised.
Depends you want me to build and design or you providing the design work
Same question? How many channels/concurrent users expected, you want EBS hosting with that
Negotiable.
I won’t provide numbers in a open forum to avoid competitor’s under cutting me
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inb4 Barry-cost minus $1
I send you a message on Discord
@WLG3R Thanks so much for the question! As mentioned on the stream, many of these previously communicated new features were pending the results of betas and/or experiments. Unfortunately, given the results of these experiments, we elected to not move forward with developing them into generally available features.
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