The drinking rule depends on your location. If you’re of legal drinking age in your country, you can enjoy a drink during the live stream. Also, if you plan on drinking, setting your stream for a mature audience would be good.
Drinking in sponsored streams
Whether you can drink during a sponsored stream depends only on the brand you’re working with. If the brand says that it’s okay, feel free to do it.
Are you a streamer who wants to enjoy yourself and show your streamers that you are comfortable being yourself and doing what you like doing on camera? If so, you are in the right place!
Drinking is one of the favorite activities for many streamers, and for a good reason – it relieves tension, eases the nerves, and makes streaming a more casual activity with less formality, which tends to suit most people. But can you drink on Twitch, that is the real question?
There is a Twitch alcohol policy in place. If you want to get away with it without dealing with the possibility of a ban, you must make sure to meet the community guidelines.
Table of Contents
The Legal Drinking Age on Twitch
First thing’s first, and it’s also the best news – Twitch rules regarding alcohol are based on national legislation.
Sure, this does mean that you won’t be seeing 13-year-olds drinking on Twitch, but there is a leniency that depends on where you live.
In the US, for example, you need to be 21 before you are allowed to drink on Twitch, while some streamers from countries such as Italy could drink at just 16 years old.
This sets a clear message; Twitch tos regarding drinking are very varied and are different from case to case, so you might see plenty of variation regarding the basic premise, yet there are some universal restrictions that we will cover with scrutinizing care.
Related: How Old do You Have to Be to Stream on Twitch
Can you drink on Twitch – drinking games
Do Twitch drinking rules forbid drinking games?
Nope!
A vast number of streamers engage in Twitch drinking on stream to amuse their audience in some way, which could include;
- Drinking when they die in the game
- Drinking to celebrate a killstreak
- Taking a sip when they receive a donation
- Drinking at a timed interval
- Drinking when they feel like it
- Creating just talk streams that feature alcohol use
It’s quite a big deal when it is taken as a sign of mutual comfort between the audience and the streamer. Still, it’s worth noting that it is strictly forbidden to over-indulge to the point of vomiting! If you plan on drinking, always keep in mind that you still have to behave yourself on the stream.
Connecting with people through drinking games is very popular, and it might sometimes happen that streamers might encourage their viewers to drink with them to loosen the tongue! This sounds pretty awesome, right? It is a double-edged sword.
Sometimes it pays to let loose a little bit and indulge with your followers in a few drinks, especially during “just talk” sessions with long-term subscribers with who you are familiar.
But, if you can’t control who gets in your audience or you get carried away, it can be harder to engage your audience the right way and not risk breaking the rules.
The variety of these games is truly endless, but whether it is a good idea to indulge in them depends on what kind of content you produce and what kind of an audience you attract.
Related: Twitch Chat Rules
Set the Content for Mature Audiences
An excellent way to mark your content is to set it for mature audiences only. Depending on who views your stream, this might even be a mandatory step.
As Twitch is pretty popular with minors, they are a common sight in most channel streams. This can make it incredibly difficult to avoid not marking a stream for mature audiences only.
Setting your content that has alcohol in it for mature audiences will make your streams more in line with the Twitch alcohol policy, so this is a great option to take into account at all times when you plan on drinking on Twitch.
Drinking in Sponsored Streams
If you have been a streamer for quite some time and have been successful during that time, it is likely that you might get the opportunity to run a couple of sponsored streams.
Being sponsored by a company or interested entities is a big move up the ladder with excellent earning potential with an increase in popularity, but it often does have a catch.
Be sure to ask your sponsors about this topic directly if you would like to include drinking. Some of them might be ok with it but, if they don’t, it’s best not to push it – it might financially be costly in the long run.
Frequently a sponsor will leave you means of communications that you can use to reach out if you have any kind of questions. Use these resources to inform yourself of every aspect that could pose a potential problem during your streams.
Related: How to Get Sponsored on Twitch
How to Safely Engage in Drinking on Twitch
As you might have guessed, this activity is widespread, and quite a few people engage in drinking games and drinking sessions. While enjoyable and definitely worth a shot, there are a few things to keep in mind;
1. Don’t start drinking due to pressure
This is a no-brainer that tends to cause a lot of anxiety in some streamers that want to amass a following but never go so far as to sacrifice your integrity as a streamer!
Always set clear boundaries that you won’t cross no matter the occurrence. Make sure that your audience won’t coerce you into drinking if you personally don’t want to do so.
2. Don’t encourage your audience to drink
Remember the golden rule that applies to you as well; drink when you want to.
While it is true that most of your audience might happily join in your drinking sessions (if you fulfill the criteria set by Twitch), you might be tempted to encourage the part of your audience that isn’t so eager to join in the fun.
Never do that. Ensure the environment is accepting and non-confrontational while reminding everyone that having a good time is the sole motive for everyone’s willing participation of lack of it.
3. Never harm your health
If everything was summed up into one simple sentence, the answer to the question “are you allowed to drink on Twitch” would be as follows;
You can, as long as you are of age and you aren’t harming your health on the stream.
Drink responsibly, and you won’t ever have any problems with the Twitch alcohol policy. When done safely, it can genuinely add value and make streaming a blast as it is meant to be!
Related: Banned Words on Twitch