How to become a Twitch Partner - Everything you need to know!

1 What is a Twitch Partner?

Twitch partners are creators who are considered particularly valuable and ambitious by the platform. To earn a partnership with Twitch, they have overcome a number of hurdles and proven themselves to be an exceptionally reliable streamer who has already been able to build a solid community. The Twitch partnership is, so to speak, the accolade from the operator that only comes to those who fully commit to the Creator's job and are willing to go the famous extra mile for their dream. Besides being an incredibly powerful figurehead, having the partner status is also the most effective and profitable way to make money from streaming.

Create your own Emotes

1.1 Twitch Partner Benefits

For one, Twitch partners naturally get the legendary purple checkmark behind their channel name, which sounds relatively mundane at first, but in many cases can have a massive impact. For example, some sponsors may only look for Twitch Partners, creators with the purple checkmark - simply because this status shows that this person is reliable and ambitious. However, these qualities are not only important to sponsors; partner status can also work wonders in other business matters and leave a lasting impression.

Even in the preliminary stage of becoming an affiliate, Twitch Affiliate, you can offer your viewers the option to sign up for a paid subscription to your channel. These subscriptions are called sub on Twitch and are considered the main source of income for most streamers.

The sub system is a wonderful way for you to make money from streaming - but there are also some benefits for viewers when they subscribe with you. For example, they get access to exclusive emotes, are highlighted in chat, and can enjoy regular loyalty badges that will adorn their nickname from now on.

Apart from these more business-related advantages, a Twitch partnership naturally also brings some bonuses on Twitch itself. For one, the world of advertising is open to you as a partner. This means you can run commercials during your stream and earn money with them. The principle of Twitch advertising is similar to that of YouTube - the clips run for 10-20 seconds and only certain users have the option to skip them. As a partner, you can determine when, how often and how long the ads should play. Of course, you can also keep your stream completely ad-free for all users!

The second big advantage is that your viewers can determine the quality of the stream themselves. On the lower right side of the video window, a drop-down menu appears where users can choose between the individual quality levels (1080p, 720p, 480p, 360p). This way, you can welcome viewers to your stream who only have a moderately fast internet connection and you don't have to worry about satisfying everyone with a compromise, but can simply broadcast in the best quality possible for you. An underestimated, but still very valuable advantage!

If you want to put an end to the annoying stream snipers, you can time-delay your stream as a Twitch partner and always stay one step ahead of the troublemakers. The maximum delay time is 15 minutes and should be enough to take the wind out of the sails of most trolls.

Other advantages of a Twitch partnership at a glance:

• Team up with other partners and start a squad stream.
• Archive your Twitch streams in VOD form for 60 days
• Create a stream team
• Insert individual emotes for your viewers

1.2 Twitch Partner earnings

Ultimately, a Twitch Partner's earnings depend on how many subs they have. Of course, the more viewers a streamer has, the higher the number of potential subscribers, which should be a kind of basic motivation for affiliates to always stay tuned. If a user pays €4.99 for their sub, about 50%, or about €2.49, goes to you and Twitch pockets the rest. There are Twitch partners who have 40,000 subs and thus earn about 100,000 € only with Twitch. Of course, this is only meant as an example, because to reach these numbers, you would have to be one of the biggest streamers in the world.

2 Twitch Partner Requirements

You don't become a Twitch partner overnight. On the contrary, the road to partnership can be arduous and very, very long. You have to meet a whole lot of criteria to be accepted into the hallowed halls of partners. And even if you've checked off every item on the upcoming list, once you've applied, you'll still face an individual evaluation from a Twitch employee who will decide whether or not you're eligible for partnership. To give you a better overview, we have summarized the most important points you need to fulfill to become a Twitch partner:

• You must have completed the Twitch "Path to Affiliate" subscription.
• You need to build a community and have about 75 active viewers on a regular basis.
• You must stream for an extended period of time on at least 12 different days within a month.
• You must stream for at least 25 hours within a month.

3 How do I become a Twitch Partner?

Once you have unlocked the "Path to Partner" Achievement, it doesn't mean that you are now a Twitch Partner, because after you have met the mentioned requirements, a special "Apply" button will be unlocked for you first. With this function, you can now send an application directly to Twitch and an employee will look at your channel in detail and finally decide whether you will be on Twitch with a purple checkmark in the future, or whether you will have to eke out an existence as an affiliate for the time being.

The application form is actually quite simple - you enter your social media links, your name and your email. However, the "Details" section is particularly interesting. In this field you should specify who you are, what you do, what content you usually broadcast and why you want to become a Twitch partner. This is the cover letter, so to speak, as you would find it in a classically structured application. Once you have entered everything, you can send your application. Now everything is in the hands of Twitch and you face days or weeks of waiting.

4 Twitch Partner vs Affiliate

Basically, partners and affiliates have similar features available to them, with the difference being that Twitch partners just have a lot more freedom to customize and adapt these features. In addition, Twitch partners are much more respected in the industry and among the community and can get collaborations and sponsors more easily.