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Happy Tuesday Wednesday, Streamers!

I hope you have been thriving so far! We had another wild week of news.

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy opened up about his vision for the platform in 2024. Warner Bros. is pulling the plug on Rooster Teeth which has affected online communities across the gaming, entertainment, and tech spaces. Akira Toriyama, who you may recognize as the creator of Dragonball (and producer of many of its popular games) sadly passed away. Oh yeah, and supposedly TikTok is going bye-bye.

Don’t forget to check out this week’s to-dos!

Enjoy the rest of this week’s newsletter!

Dim

✅Tuesday To-Dos

Every week I curate 🖐️ actionable tasks to help you improve your content. See what’s new this week 👇

1. 🎶 Chill - Inspired by LoFi Girl, Spirit City: Lofi Sessions immerses you in the calming world of lofi music. Create your avatar and customize your space for the ultimate relaxation.

2. 🎮 Grab - Score games like Metal Hellsinger, A Plague Tale: Innocence, and Eastward in the latest Humble Bundle deal. Don't miss out!

3. 🏆 Dare - Take on the latest Dare Drop challenges. Earn loot for theHunter: Call of the Wild by completing fun in-game challenges.

4. 📺 Unravel - Get the inside scoop on how YouTube’s algorithm really works in the latest episode of Creator Insider with YouTubeLiaison.

5. ❤️ Support - Check out these amazing women-led organizations making a difference: Femme Gaming, Women In Esports, theGameHers, and Women in Games.

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🥇This Week’s Top Stories

Dan Clancy Believes Twitch’s Success Lies In Community

Last week, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy shared his vision for Twitch in an open letter published on the official Twitch blog. According to Dan, Twitch’s greatest asset is its community.

Key Takeaways

He outlined how he plans on investing in more features that will benefit the community as a whole. You can read the full blog here, but here are some quick takeaways.

• Twitch is rolling out new discovery and collaboration products in 2024.

• Twitch wants to make it easier for streamers and viewers to share clips on Twitch and other platforms like Instagram.

• A mobile clip editor will be launched later this year.

• Improvements are coming to the Stream Together tool. Notably, there are plans to merge participating chats and combine viewership.

• Twitch is overhauling the mobile app to optimize the on-the-go experience. Mobile Mod view will be launching later this year!

• Twitch plans to expand the Ads Incentive Program (AIP) and Partner Plus Programs they launched last year.

• Twitch wants to create more on-platform sponsorship opportunities. They’ll continue experimenting with new features like Channel Skins, sponsored discount subs, and host read ads.

• Twitch subscription prices will continue to increase in other countries. So far price increases have occurred in UK, Australia, Canada, and Turkey.

• Twitch reaffirmed that the safety of communities is still a top priority for the platform. They plan on updating Community Guidelines to combat harassment. They also plan on updating their Enforcement System to evaluate current and future suspensions, especially for low-severity violations.

Is This The Beginning Of The End For TikTok?

A bipartisan bill that was introduced last Thursday and passed today (they moved fast) will effectively wipe TikTok from existence.

What is this bill and why does it exist?

The bill is coercing TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell the platform or face a permanent ban. Lawmakers worry that ByteDance could potentially share user data like browsing history, location, and biometric identifiers with the China’s authoritarian government, essentially spying on U.S. citizens.

It’s important to note the bill doesn’t specifically call out TikTok and could target other foreign-owned mobile and web apps as well. Whether lawmakers suspicions of TikTok are valid or not, this policy sets some terrifying precedent. The government would be able to essentially coerce any foreign-owned platform it deems a threat to national security.

What is TikTok saying?

TikTok and ByteDance have stated they believe the ban is infringing on constitutional rights to free expression and harms businesses/creators on the platform. ByteDance has already stated it does not plan to sell its shares of TikTok. It will likely exhaust all legal means of challenging this bill before it considers divesting the popular social platform.

How likely is this bill to pass?

A ban was previously sought out during Trump’s term, but was unsuccessful. This time around there is enough momentum to bury TikTok for good. Today, the bill passed in the House 352-65. Now it has to go to the Senate where some say it could stall out. Ironically, Donald Trump has flipped positions since he attempted his TikTok ban. This could potentially sway Republican Senators to vote against the bill altogether.

If it does manage to pass through the Senate, President Biden has already voiced his support for this bill.

How will this effect creators?

If the bill passes, TikTok would not disappear overnight. Opposition groups could challenge the bill in courts which have been successful in the past. Back in November, a federal judge blocked a law in Montana that sought to ban TikTok across the state.

While I don’t think TikTok creators should stop posting on the platform right now, they should prepare for the worst case scenario. This is especially true if your only audience exists on TikTok. If possible, start investing time on other platforms and migrate your audience with you.

• "Twitch funeral" trends in Korea as users commemorate the platform with virtual and real-life memorials.

• There's still time to apply or reapply for Twitch Ambassador. Don't miss your chance! Apply Now.

• Twitch Support fixes the Leap Day glitch showing zero revenue for that day.

• New tweaks to Twitch Stories let streamers resize photos and upload portrait clips with ease.

• Catch up on Twitch's latest Patch Notes stream with Dan Clancy, talking about the upcoming subscription price hikes.

• YouTube's new "Creator Advice" podcast launches, featuring a chat with MrBeast's thumbnail genius, Chucky.

• Tiffany Matloob, YouTube Shorts’ Global Head of Creator Community, shares key insights on Shorts content and creator partnerships in an interview on OBSERVER.

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🎙️ Creator News

• PRIME, Logan Paul and KSI’s energy drink brand, lands impressive partnerships with the Los Angeles Lakers and WWE.

• YouTube honors MatPat with a heartfelt tribute video as he steps away from Game Theory.

• Jake Paul is set to enter the ring with boxing icon Mike Tyson in an epic showdown, streamed exclusively on Netflix.

• Rhett and Link hit The Tonight Show to celebrate Good Mythical Morning's 25th season and talk about their latest venture, The Mythical Cookbook, with Jimmy Fallon.

• 100 Thieves welcomes a fresh roster of talent, adding D4vd, Lidyuh, KingWoolz, Legiqn, Sparkles_qt, and JoshChx to their creator lineup.

🔴Streaming News

• LinkTree is piloting an affiliate program offering 12-15% commission on sales from brands like Sephora and Urban Outfitters to creators

• Discord is teaming up with developers to bring official game-themed merchandise to its in-app store.

• LiveSpace introduces Stream Actions, a new feature that revolutionizes viewer interaction during streams

• Streaming directly to X / Twitter is now possible thanks to StreamElements

🎮 Gaming News

• After 21 years, Rooster Teeth is shutting down and 133 talented individuals are out of a job.

• Missed the Women-Led Games showcase? Catch all three parts on their YouTube channel.

• Activision's QA workers make history by unionizing with the CWA, becoming Activision Quality Assurance United.

• Warner Bros. is delisting all 21 games from Adult Swim Games on digital storefronts.

• The DragonBall gaming community honors Akira Toriyama's legacy after his passing on March 1st.

• Multiversus is set for a thrilling return this May.

🥳You Made It To The End!🥳
Have A Cookie
🍪

Did you enjoy this week’s newsletter? If you did, I’d love if you would take a second to share this newsletter with at least one friend this week. By doing that once, you’d not only be supporting the newsletter, but you’d also help your friend be better informed about everything happening in the gaming / streaming space. Look at you being such a good friend!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope to see you next week!

-Dim

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