Highlights
Twitch has banned the promotion of gambling with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skins, citing a desire to crack down on unregulated platforms and protect consumers.
The ban applies to sponsored streams and potentially all skin gambling streams, regardless of whether they have been explicitly blacklisted by Twitch.
Traditional sports betting, poker, and fantasy leagues remain permissible on Twitch, however, the prohibition on skin gambling has the potential to adversely affect the earnings of prominent CS:GO streamers and could result in a significant number of streamers leaving the platform.
Twitch has recently implemented a ban on promoting gambling with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skins and similar cosmetics, addressing concerns raised by popular content creators such as Pokimane. This restriction was introduced by the Amazon-owned streaming service in September 2022, aiming to eradicate "unlicensed" betting content from its platform. Twitch's decision was motivated by a desire to combat gambling platforms operating without adherence to U.S. laws or providing adequate consumer safeguards. Among the sites affected by this ban was Stake, the owner of Twitch's competitor, Kick. Although some content creators expressed support for this move, others, like Trainwreck, criticized the platform, arguing that the gambling ban policies are inconsistent.
Following that move, Twitch has now also prohibited streams endorsed by any platform offering gambling with in-game skins, including those hosted on sites not explicitly listed as forbidden by the company. Twitch made this change silently, simply by updating its Community Guidelines to include a provision that bans any form of skin gambling promotions. The wording of the newly revised policy indicates that the ban could possibly encompass all skin gambling streams on Twitch, not just sponsored content.
Despite the changes, the platform will still permit streams featuring traditional sports betting, poker, and fantasy leagues, as stated in the latest version of its Community Guidelines. However, streams that promote betting with cosmetics like CS:GO skins have consistently been a source of controversy on Twitch and beyond. Some argue that this type of content should be closely regulated and, at the very least, hosted with disclaimers warning of the risks of gambling addiction. On the other hand, there are those who believe that such streams should be completely banned, as they might encourage gambling among minors.
A number of the most popular Twitch streamers of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive have relied on gambling sponsorships to monetize their broadcasts in the past. If all such content were to be banned outright, it could seriously impact their income and potentially lead to a mass exodus from the platform.
Despite being willing to accommodate streamers dissatisfied with its competitors' policies, Kick's association with a gambling company does not imply a strong emphasis on gambling content. In fact, Kick implemented a notable change on June 30 to minimize users' exposure to gambling streams. The company stated its intention to hide these broadcasts from individuals who have not shown a specific interest in this type of content by actively following gambling streamers.
