120 Counter-Strike streamers have reportedly broken Twitch’s terms of service by accepting gambling sponsorships which could result in a ban. Over the past few years, Twitch has cracked down on gambling on its platform, updating its rules to prohibit streamers from gambling live or being sponsored by gambling companies. This eventually led to the creation of the Stake-backed streaming platform Kick.
Part of the new rules was that the promotion of skin gambling , particularly Counter-Strike skins, was not allowed, with streamers banned from being sponsored by these sites. However, many streamers are reportedly disregarding the rule and are still being sponsored by CS gambling sites, putting them at risk of a ban. In a report by Barron’s on the proliferation of gambling ads on Google and Facebook, they exposed the fact that 120 of the top 300 most-watched Counter-Strike streams on Twitch were sponsored by a gambling site.
Twitch’s community guidelines state that no sponsorships for skins gambling are allowed, with the removal of content, demonetization, or a suspension implemented if a streamer was found to have broken the rules. According to Barron’s, they spoke to streamers and YouTubers who said that they received offers of nearly $200,000 a month to promote the gambling sites. Barron’s did a test by reporting a stream to Twitch which was breaking the rules by being sponsored by a gambling site, however, found that the streamer continued streaming live on the platf.