Earlier today Twitch announced in a blog post that the service’s Prime subscribers will not be experiencing ad-free content any longer.
Newcomers to Twitch Prime will not be allowed the ad-free privilege beginning September 14. As for monthly subscribers, the service will continue on a month longer, ending October 15. The blog post states that “If you already have an annual subscription, or if you upgrade to an annual subscription before September 14, you will continue with ad-free viewing until your next renewal date.” So for those feeling betrayed by this, it would probably be wise to jump on the annual subscription train if you haven’t already.
For those feeling even more betrayed by this news fear not, as Twitch does offer Twitch Turbo which is essentially Twitch Prime but with fewer perks. Introduced back in 2013, the service costs $8.99 a month compared to Twitch Prime’s $10.99 a month.
This is obviously a cheaper price but the one main advantage that it has over Prime is that it enables viewers to go ad-free. Meanwhile, Prime subscriptions give gamers free games and in-game loot every month, monthly channel subscriptions, and exclusive badges.
While this change is bound to infuriate many Twitch users, Twitch sees a more positive side to this. “Advertising is an important source of support for the creators who make Twitch possible,” Twitch said. “This change will strengthen and expand that advertising opportunity for creators so they can get more support from their viewers for doing what they love. We want Twitch to remain a place where anyone can enjoy one-of-a-kind interactive entertainment, and ads allow us to continue making Twitch the best place for creators to build communities around the things they love and make money doing it.”
With ads becoming such a prevalent part of websites and services, it is frustrating for many to hear these services putting these perks behind ever more expensive paywalls, or even eradicating them completely.
Does more ads on Twitch Prime effect you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
