Earning the Twitch affiliate status and getting on the Twitch affiliate program is a big goal every streamer is looking to achieve.
To get there, you need to work hard and put a lot of your time into streaming account and getting a good audience, but once you succeed, sign the affiliate agreement and earn the Twitch partner status it all becomes worth it.
For many streamers, being on the Twitch affiliate is the main source of income, so it’s important to know how to keep it going and make sure it’s kept safe and secure.
The short answer to the main question would be, yes, you can lose your Twitch affiliate status, but because this isn’t that simple to lose affiliate status, down below are the answers to the more specific questions around this topic.
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Can You Lose Twitch Affiliate if You Don’t Stream
It will probably never happen that Twitch removes you from the affiliate program if you stream on a semi-regular basis, but it is possible to lose your affiliate status if you end up being completely inactive for quite long periods.
Usually, 12 or more months of complete inactivity need to pass before you might lose your status, however, when asked about this Twitch stated that losing your affiliate agreement because of your account being inactive isn’t that straightforward and it’s decided on a case by case basis.
As Twitch has said themselves, there are many factors that come into play when inactive affiliate accounts are considered.
So, if you haven’t been active on your account for a few months, don’t worry, having a break or going away for a few months isn’t a reason why streamers lose their affiliate on Twitch.
The main goal Twitch has with this policy is to get rid of inactive accounts that have existed for a really long time but are completely inactive. And this makes a lot of sense when looked at from their angle.
There are many inactive accounts and for Twitch it’s better to have those removed from the affiliate program.
So, to conclude, as long as you stay active at least from time to time during the year, you won’t automatically lose your partner status.
And you especially don’t need to worry if you have a good standing audience.
Feel free to take a break, stop streaming for a while and hit pause on your live Twitch content, and go play games for your own enjoyment!
Breaking Twitch’s Terms of Services
This one is quite a simple one – yes, you will lose your affiliate status on Twitch if you break Twitch’s terms of services, and this should be a no-brainer.
And also, if you break the terms that’s not the only thing that will happen, you will lose your entire Twitch account.
If you want to be able to stream on this platform, you are absolutely required to follow these terms.
Breaking said Terms will earn your Twitch account a ban in general, so if you also happen to have the Twitch affiliate status, that will be lost automatically.
The terms and services aren’t anything too intense, and all you need to do is be a decent human being. It’s only fair if those who are not, don’t get the platform and the space to spread such mindset.
Twitch is constantly working on creating a safer space for all the communities on the platform, so this will probably change in the future.
It takes only a short Twitter scroll to find out how many new requests both streamers and their audiences have when it comes to updating the Terms of use.
This is especially important for the streaming platform itself and its reputation, as the eyes of the internet are always watching, and having a Twitch affiliate spread negative things to their viewers certainly isn’t a good look for them.
Losing Twitch Affiliate by Ending Your Agreement
Even though this doesn’t happen too often, it’s possible to leave the Twitch affiliate program if you wish to do so.
People who do this and decide to go with this step for a wide variety of reasons, and some even find that it’s more beneficial for them to end the agreement than to keep being a Twitch partner.
Some of the benefits include:
So if having these things outside Twitch sounds appealing to you, then maybe it is time to move on.
The first step will be contacting Twitch, and they will lead you from there.
Streaming on Another Platform
When you are on the Twitch affiliate program, you are still free to stream on other platforms like YouTube or Facebook gaming, however, there are some rules around that live streaming.
You can’t stream the same content or at the same time as you stream on Twitch.
Even though the content belongs to you, it must be different so it won’t be considered plagiarism.
What Twitch affiliates can do is upload VODs on YouTube 24 hours after the stream has ended.
If you find platforms like YouTube and Facebook gaming more to your liking and you wish to transfer your streaming there full-time, then before you do so you must terminate your affiliate agreement with Twitch. This way you will avoid being on two things at the same time.
Another important thing to know is that it seems that it is possible to get back to streaming on Twitch if you fail to achieve success on other platforms, as there have been other streamers who have made those exact changes successfully.
Streaming Banned Games
Before you decide to stream your gameplay on Twitch and try to get your affiliate achievement, make sure that the game you’re playing can be streamed on this platform.
There are two main conditions around which Twitch decides if a game is appropriate for streaming or not:
If you are not sure whether the game you plan on streaming is allowed, then you can check the list of prohibited games.
Be sure to check this before you even start streaming, as you wouldn’t want to get banned before even getting the chance to be an affiliate on Twitch.
It’s good to know that the previously mentioned list is updated regularly, so you shouldn’t worry about that.
Follower Number Drops Below 50
There are many rumors and misinformation related to being a Twitch affiliate, and it’s not rare that you hear something along the lines of “I will be dropped by the affiliate program if I go below 50 followers”.
So let’s make this clear – you won’t lose affiliate if you drop below 50 followers.
However, there is a valid reason why people believe this to be fact.
To become a Twitch affiliate, there are some requirements:
And you need to maintain this simultaneously for 30 days, in order to even qualify for the affiliate program.
Having this in mind, it makes sense where the confusion comes from, but as I already said, you won’t lose affiliate if you drop below 5o followers once you’ve already got on the affiliate program.
Not Making Enough Money
When it comes to earning money and requirements, you need at least one Twitch payout a year in order to keep being on the Twitch affiliate program.
What this means is that you need to earn at least $100 USD a year on your Twitch balance, as this is the amount you need to make in order for a payout to happen.
However, it has never happened that a streamer got off the Twitch affiliate program purely because of this.
What Twitch states is that they will primarily consider someone’s activity, not only their earnings.
And this surely won’t happen automatically, you will at least get some kind of a written notice from them.
Something to consider though is if you put a lot of work into your streaming, have consistent viewers and you didn’t stop streaming, earning only this much for the work that goes into all of that probably means that something in your strategy isn’t the best.
It might be time to reconsider some things if this is where you’ve found yourself and work a bit on your account strategy.
Can Twitch suddenly terminate your Affiliate or Partnership contract?
Technically speaking, yes, Twitch has every right to end your agreement at any time. They don’t have any reason to uphold the termination of your Twitch partner or affiliate status.
But a good thing to know is that Twitch basically never does this.
Affiliates that lose the Twitch partner status are usually the ones that break the Terms of Service or the ones that simultaneously stream on a competitor platform, like YouTube.
And as already stated, streaming on another platform with the same content and at the same time is something that’s not allowed when you’re one of the affiliates.
However, in almost all cases you will be informed if you are in danger of losing your status due to i.e. inactivity, and if you break some of the rules then that wouldn’t be sudden and without a valid reason.
Re-Applying for the Twitch Affiliate Program
If you’ve been unfortunate and one of the scenarios mentioned above has already happened to you, you are probably wondering if you could re-apply and fix the damage that has been made.
And the answer is – it depends.
If you look on their website, there isn’t any specific information regarding re-applying after losing your affiliate status on Twitch.
However, gathering the information from different comments around the internet of people speaking about their experiences did lead to some insight.
It seems like the best bet for getting your affiliate status on Twitch back is to reach out to them directly.
If you ended everything on good terms the last time and you want to stream again as an affiliate, there is a chance that you could be let back in.
There is no guarantee that this will work, but if you’re sure that you want to get back on this streaming platform and being a Twitch partner actually is for you, then you have nothing to lose by reaching out.
FAQ
How long does the Twitch affiliate contract last?
The Twitch affiliate agreement can last until Twitch decides to end it in case you break the Terms and conditions, or in case you make any mistakes mentioned above in this article. You can also end the Twitch affiliate agreement by yourself if you decide you want to for any reason. Unless one of these things happens, your contract won’t end.
Do Twitch affiliates get paid?
Twitch affiliates do get paid. The minimum amount of revenue needed to receive a payout is $100 USD, and the supported Payout Methods are ACH, eCheck/Local Bank, PayPal, Check, and Wire Transfer.
Is becoming a Twitch affiliate worth it?
If you have a consistent audience and you are consistent with streaming yourself, then doing the initial grind is worth it. It can be hard, however, if you’re into it it’s a great way to earn your main stream of income.
If your audience is big enough and consistent, then you can have a good amount of money coming your way. But, if you find yourself getting extremely stressed and drained from streaming, then it’s a good idea to think it through.
How long do you have to be inactive on Twitch to lose affiliate?
When it comes to losing your status due to inactivity, Twitch usually gets rid of the accounts that haven’t been active for longer than a year. So basically, 12 months is the period during which you will need to have at least some kind of activity if you don’t want your affiliate to drop.
However, decisions like this are usually made on a case-by-case basis, so even if you were inactive for 12 months, that doesn’t mean that you will automatically lose your status.
