Twitch just added a new feature to its monetization solutions: Hype Chat. This new feature is similar to YouTube’s Super Chat, where the viewer’s chat is featured and pinned to the top of the chat.

How much does Hype Chat cost? 

According to Twitch, Hype Chat can cost from $1 USD to $500 USD, and “the duration, character count, and visual design of the pin will depend on how much a viewer spends.” In a simpler sense, the higher the value spent on Hype Chat, the longer it stays as the pinned chat, and the longer its character count will be. Streamers will get 70% of the revenue, and Twitch will get 30%. Also, Twitch will take an initial 5% to cover costs. Other monetization features, such as Subs, Gifts and Bits will not be changing to the 70 / 30 split.

How Hype Chat is design 

Twitch emphasized that it designed Hype Chat with safety in mind and will be integrated with its existing chat safety feature upon launching. This way, banned words and phrases won’t be sent. AutoMod will scan the Hype Chats and flag harmful messages to make sure that the safety of the streamers and their communities is protected. Streamers and mods can also unpin such harmful messages. 

Only available to Twitch Partners

Currently, Hype Chat will only be available for Twitch Partners, but Twitch said it’s working to roll out the feature more broadly in the future. However, it’s likely Hype Chats won’t be as successful as Twitch is hoping it will be. Back in September 2022, Twitch tried a similar feature named Elevated Chat. The feature wasn’t well received by Twitch’s streaming community and viewers. Many streamers felt that the feature was unnecessary and simply encouraged viewers to give Twitch more money to get their attention during streams. This time around, streamers are criticizing Twitch’s double standard for monetization tools. Many are calling on Twitch to implement the 70/30 split for all monetization features for all streamers able to monetize.

Overall, the Hype Chat feature appears to be Twitch’s way of trying to have its cake and eat it too. Twitch clearly wants to put out the fire it caused by its shift to a 50/50 revenue split, offering an alternative way to achieve a 70 / 30 split without reversing the platform-wide 50 / 50 split. We’ll have to see how the community receives the new feature, but early signs show — while a step in the right direction on revenue splits — it’s not nearly enough.