Can you lose affiliate status on Twitch? Are you a Twitch affiliate who is worried about this possibility? Gaining Twitch affiliate status is a big thing, but it can also be a source of constant stress. If you lose that status, you lose income. Don’t worry though, I’ve got you covered. From the Twitch affiliate agreement to the main reasons why losing the status happens, this post is a complete guide on Twitch affiliate status and how to keep it.

A major moment

Gaining Twitch Affiliate status is a big deal. You’ve worked hard to build up an audience and you’ve streamed a lot.

Twitch has recognised this hard work and made you an affiliate, which means you are now able to use the platform as a source of income through affiliate marketing. It is the first step on the road to having a consistent brand on the platform, and monthly revenue.

So can you lose affiliate on Twitch?

The short answer is yes, you can.

Like any major platform online, Twitch has a set of rules. If they are broken and you happen to be a Twitch Affiliate, it’s not a good look. The good thing is that Twitch has made the most common reasons for losing status clear.

Most common reasons why you can lose Twitch Affiliate status

The main reasons someone might lose the status are:

• Breaking the Twitch terms of service (Twitch’s rules)
• Account inactivity
• Streaming on other social media platforms
• Streaming banned games

There are also other ‘grey areas’ that I will cover later in the post.

Breaking the terms of service for your Twitch account

Twitch has to deal with 0ver 140 million visits per month, and therefore has a straightforward and easy to understand terms of service statement. Basically, all Twitch wants from you is good behavior.

If you feel that you need to see the terms of service in detail, go here. It is a good idea to at least be familiar with them.

If you do break the terms of service, you can potentially expect to find yourself losing your Twitch account. Obviously, this also means you will lose your Affiliate status.

Twitch explains it like this:

When we find someone has violated our Community Guidelines we take actions that can include removal of content, a warning, and/or suspension of their account. We consider our Community Guidelines to be a living document, and we work with streamers, mods, and external safety and policy experts to review and update them regularly.

So make sure you remain in good standing with Twitch and the user community if you want to keep going on your streaming journey.

Twitch account inactivity

Can you lose Twitch Affiliate status through inactivity?

Not necessarily.

You’ll want to stream regulalrly on Twitch anyway, because that’s how you make money. But don’t worry if you feel like taking some time off. Even the top Twitch streamers can leave a few days between streams.

If you drop off the radar for a few months this doesn’t mean that you will return to an account that has lost it’s affiliate status. Just checking in now and again and setting up a semi-regular streaming schedule can keep you relevant.

However, if you decide to take longer stretches of time off you could be leaving yourself open to losing that status. If you are off the platform for longer than twelve months you could lose your status. Bear in mind though, that Twitch does make decisions on a case-by-case basis when it comes to inactive accounts.

This means that even if you are absent for longer than twelve months, Twitch will still look at your account and make a decision based on the details of the account and the history of it.

If you’re still bringing in a ton of Twitch viewers, they won’t want to get rid of you.

If you have a good standing audience you have every chance of Twitch seeing this as a positive thing and keeping you on board, even if you are absent for a long time. Keep up the live streaming as much as you sensibly can though, because very long periods of inactivtiy can lead to you losing affiliate status.

Streaming on other social media platforms

Twitch is not the only streaming platform. You can stream video games on other platforms like Facebook Gaming and YouTube and develop additional ways to make money. However, Twitch will only let you use those other platforms for your streaming under certain conditions.

The golden rule is that you cannot stream the same content you stream on Twitch on other platforms at the same time. Instead, you have to wait 24 hours before you upload the recording of your stream onto any other platform.

Now, I love Twitch, but I can see why some streamers may want to switch to YouTube as part of their streaming journey (as well as any of the other platforms). If this is something you think you may want to do, make sure you cancel your affiliate account first. This is important because it will make your transition smoother, and if you want to come back, and avoid penalties on your ‘main’ platform, it’s vital.

It’s absolutely possible to move from one platform to another if things don’t work out, as long as you keep on good terms with Twitch.

Just remember that golden rule for your Twitch channel. The moment you stream simultaneously on another platform, or use the same content before that 24 hours is up, you’re going to lose your affiliate status.

Streaming banned games

In my opinion, if you decide that you want to play banned games, then you shouldn’t expect to be able to stream them. Even if you are a new streamer it’s pretty obvious why these games are not allowed. They are banned for a reason.

Just in case you think you’re in danger of accidentally streaming a game that is banned, here is the full list as specified by Twitch itself:

Games are restricted from broadcast based on two criteria:

• The official ESRB rating is Adults Only*
• The game violates our Community Guidelines as it applies to hate speech, sex, nudity, gratuitous gore, or extreme violence.

• 3DXChat
• All Randomized Video Chat Platforms
• Artificial Girl 1, 2, & 3
• Artificial Academy 1 & 2
• Battle Rape
• BMX XXX
• Cobra Club
• Criminal Girls
• Cuckold Simulator
• Dramatical Murder
• Ethnic Cleansing
• Genital Jousting
• Grezzo 1 & 2
• Harem Party
• House Party
• HunieCam Studio
• HuniePop 1 & 2
• Kamidori Alchemy Meister
• Negligee
• Porno Studio Tycoon
• Purin to Ohuro
• Purin to Ohuro
• Purino Party
• Radiator 2
• RapeLay
• Rinse and Repeat
• Sakura Angels
• Sakura Beach 1 & 2
• Sakura Dungeon
• Sakura Fantasy
• Sakura Santa
• Sakura Spirit
• Sakura Swim Club
• Second Life
• Suck My Dick or Die!
• The Guy Game
• The Maiden Rape Assault: Violent Semen Inferno
• What’s under your blanket !?
• Witch Trainer
• Yandere Simulator

And yes, the only one I recognise is Second Life.

Can you lose affiliate on Twitch: the grey areas

Over the years, there have been numerous rumors around what can get your affiliate status removed. These include:

The 50 followers thing

To become a Twitch Affiliate you need to meet the following affiliate eligibility requirements:

• You need to reach 50 followers
• Get an average of 3 viewers
• Stream for at least 8 hours
• Stream for 7 different days

This is a similar list of requirements for other streaming platforms. It is built around the profile of a streamer who has a growing brand. Note the 50 Followers. It is the most challenging part of becoming an affiliate and creating that income stream.

The above set of requirements has to be maintained for 30 days. However, it is important to remember that Twitch will not remove your Affiliate status if you find your Follower count dropping below 50. If things do start to go wrong (and it is quite difficult to lose Followers once you have built momentum) Twitch will still look at your account on a case-by-case basis.

The money thing

Affiliate qualified streamers make money. But that money only stays consistent if the streaming stays consistent. There has been a rumor for years now that Twitch streamers who see a drop in their money also run the risk off being cut off from Affiliate status.

However, Twitch has made it clear that it will look at active streamers and their activity levels first, before money becomes an issue. And the company will of course give you some kind of written notice before anything serious happens.

It could become an issue though. As of July 2022, you have to make a minimum of $50 (for most payment methods) before you get a Twitch payout. And this has to happen, as a minimum, over twelve consecutive months.

If you don’t make that $50 then you are at least putting your Affiliate status under scrutiny. Scrutiny doesn’t necessarily mean disaster, but you need to think about how things are working out for you if you have the status and are struggling to maintain it.

As I hinted at earlier, once you have momentum on the Twitch platform, it’s really difficult to lose it. Something is going wrong if you can’t maintain and grow your income.

How much do Twitch streamers make anyway?

If you’re serious about becoming a part of the Twitch Affiliate program then you need to have some clear expectations on how much money you can expect to make.

First up, the important thing to remember is that this can be hard work. The vast majority of streamers on the platform make hardly any money at all. If this is going to make enough money for you, you will have to make sure you amp up the entertainment value and stream a lot of new content for larger audiences. Getting to Affiliate status is a long road, and a new streamer can become disheartened quite quickly.

The good news is that having Twitch Affiliate status is not the only way to make money on the platform. Through Twitch Bits (an ‘in-game purchases’ type of support for streamers, where streamers get a share of the revenue) and subscriptions, as well as ad revenue, it is possible to make money alongside the status. With that in mind, here are the amounts made by the top 10,000 streamers on the platform:

• Streamers in the top 100 on the platform make a minimum of $32,850 USD per month on Twitch via subs, bit donations, and ads alone. This pretty much makes that top tier your ultimate goal
• Content creators in the top 1000 on the platform made a minimum of $7,063 USD per month.
• Streamers in the top 10,000 on the platform make a minimum of $904 USD per month.

(Figures courtesy of streamscheme.com)

Can you lose affiliate status on Twitch? – conclusion

Twitch’s Affiliate program is great if you put the work in. If you manage to gain the status, do everything you can to hold onto it. While you may not make north of $32,000 a month, you can still make a healthy income.

I will continue to look at Twitch in future posts. For now, if you liked this post, why not subscribe and enjoy regular updates?

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