Introducing SureStream: for a Better Video Ad Experience on Twitch

We’re working hard to make Twitch the best platform in the world for creators to share their content and connect with their audiences, and to earn a living doing it. Advertising is a crucial piece of the Twitch economy that helps support our creators. But we know it can be better.

We are dedicated to making the advertising experience on Twitch mutually beneficial for all parts of the Twitch ecosystem. Today we’re taking a big next step by starting a gradual rollout of SureStream, new video technology that brings more of the ad delivery experience under our control so that we can optimize it in ways that benefit the entire community.

Over time SureStream will allow us to improve the video advertising experience for viewers and partners, improve ad deliverability by reducing the impact of third party services that bypass ads, and increase the advertising revenue pool available for partners.

What does that mean for you? Gradually, you will start to see the following benefits:

For Viewers

We can begin fixing a long-standing ad volume problem on Twitch. Your ears will thank us. You will also get a more seamless ad playback experience with less pausing and freezing, better ads via a faster removal process of problematic advertising, and a faster experience that gets you back to the stream once the ad plays.

For Partnered Streamers

We hope to provide you with more opportunity to earn revenue from ads. Your channel subscriptions become more valuable as the ad-free benefit gets more meaningful, while the overall experience for your viewers will be improved, making your content more sticky.

For Advertisers

Broader reach and more reliable delivery of ads make Twitch a more attractive ad platform, which helps bring in more ad revenue opportunity for streamers.

Supporting Streamers

We are well aware that many dedicated Twitch viewers use software that bypasses ads, and the rollout of this technology will reduce the efficacy of such software. As a company we are agnostic when it comes to the use of this software. You are free to use it, or not, as you see fit. We invested in SureStream because it helps us provide the best experience possible for the whole of the Twitch community. There are more ways than ever to both support streamers and have an ad-free Twitch experience via Twitch Prime subscriptions, Turbo, and individual channel subscriptions. For those that can’t or choose not to subscribe, watching ads is another way to help support the people making the content you like to watch. We will continue to work towards improving the experience for streamers and viewers alike.