Even the smallest changes to Twitch’s rules can impact numerous people using the massive streaming platform—and a recent addition to its guidelines might’ve changed the future of the website forever.
Twitch has added a section to the Prohibited Gambling Content section of its Community Guidelines, specifically saying the “promotion or sponsorship” of CS:GO skin gambling is no longer allowed on the site as of the start of August 2023.
This comes only eight days after a popular YouTube video speaking out on CS:GO skin gambling sponsorships was released and amassed over 200,000 views. At the release of HOUNGOUNGAGNE’s CS:GO skin video, this statement wasn’t a part of Twitch’s guidelines, making this seem like a more recent change.
As of Aug. 2, the official CS:GO gambling statement in the Twitch guidelines reads: “Is sponsorship of skins gambling, such as for CSGO skins, allowed on Twitch? No, promotion or sponsorship of skins gambling is prohibited under our policy.”
The change came relatively unannounced, with no tweet or official post dedicated to this update from Twitch. Just that fact alone might make this the most consequential unannounced Twitch change, mainly due to a large majority of the top CS:GO streamers having skin gambling sponsorships, according to the same video from above. Even some of the smaller streamers who have those sponsorships will now have to move on from these deals, or else they risk getting their Twitch account banned.
Then again, there haven’t been any notable examples of people getting banned or punished for not following this rule due to its recent reveal. Viewers will have to wait and see what happens with their favorite CS:GO streamers on Twitch who promote skin gambling, especially since Twitch has been accused by some users of being inconsistent with their bans, often due to things like manual reviews being much slower than automatic reviews
Valve has been trying to fix some skin gambling issues in CS:GO, with both account bans and removals of skins coming in waves through confirmed connections to gambling sites, totaling up to just under $6 million USD of content as of June 29.
Related: $2 million of CS:GO skins reduced to dust as latest ban wave takes place
Even with these bans, opening cases in CS:GO has been integral to the game for a long time, as far back as 2013. As cases grew in popularity, sites offered ways to gamble for skins that others owned, avoiding the cases entirely. Even some esports teams, like G2 Esports, have sponsorships with skin gambling sites, with CS:GORoll being the biggest example.
The outcome of this TOS change has yet to be fully realized, but it could affect both Twitch and CS:GO streaming for the foreseeable future.
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