Twitch Officially Bans Unregulated Gambling Sites

Twitch remains the most popular platform for video game streaming despite YouTube Gaming’s serious opposition. One of the things that make the Amazon-owned giant special is the Slots section which allows gamblers to enjoy streaming as well. However, Twitch has now implemented changes that are sure to shake up the Slots ecosystem.

Twitch Bans Unregulated Gambling

A few weeks ago, Twitch vowed to fight against gambling harm by banning all gambling content that isn’t licensed in the United States or another market that provides sufficient consumer protection. The ban has now officially been enforced, which is going to cause problems for many Slots content creators.

Following the new rules, several notable websites, including the famous Stake.com, have been banned from the platform. The problem is that Stake is one of the biggest sponsors of gambling streamers. This means that many content creators will have their source of funds cut off.  

To make matters worse, even free-to-play content has been prohibited as long as it is a part of an unregulated site. The regulations don’t stop here as streamers will now be prohibited from mentioning unregulated sites, using their logos in banners or referring to them via links and promo codes.  

As of now, the list of banned sites includes Stake, Duelbits, Rollbit and Roobet but more will be added at a later date. At first, Twitch will refrain from banning users for such content as it acknowledges that creators might need some time to learn the new rules and get adjusted to them. However, they will still be reprimanded to make sure they don’t repeat the same mistake.

The Community Prompted Twitch to Take this Course

Twitch introduced the new ban amid strong pressure from its community of viewers and creators. The outrage stems from a recent controversy involving Abraham “Sliker” Mohammed, a content creator who took hundreds of thousands of dollars from his fans and colleagues to fuel his gambling addiction. Sliker later admitted to having a problem and apologized for giving in to his urges.

While some were sympathetic to Sliker and his woes, others were disgruntled by his actions. Regardless, many Twitch users agreed that gambling harm is a serious problem and must be addressed. As a result, the platform decided to take action.

Following the implementation of the ban, streamers can still stream gaming content as long as they use a regulated platform. This means that there might be hope for Stake and Duelbits users since both sites hold a UKGC license. However, it is still uncertain whether Twitch will decide to lift its ban on these two operators.

Twitch’s new ban will surely affect the Slots ecosystem. However, there are still a lot of uncertainties. The full extent of the ban’s effect is yet to be seen.

Meanwhile, Trainwreckstv, one of the most popular streamers even revealed that he is currently working on a new platform that would rival Twitch.