Twitch Prohibits Streamers from Promoting CS:GO Skin Gambling Sites

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Streaming platform Twitch has updated its community guidelines to no longer allow streamers to promote or be sponsored by Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) skin gambling sites. This new policy could have a significant impact on CS:GO streamers who have lucrative deals with these controversial websites.

In CS:GO, trading and gambling of in-game skins and cosmetics has become a profitable industry, with rare skins selling for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Some players spend money on CS:GO skin gambling sites, essentially turning the game’s trading system into a slot machine that rewards players with valuable items. These sites often pay or sponsor streamers to promote their services, with some even streaming themselves gambling with cosmetics on Twitch.

On August 2, Twitch quietly updated its community guidelines to explicitly prohibit users from featuring or promoting CS:GO skin gambling sites. This news is particularly bad for streamers who have agreements with these sites. For instance, G2 Esports, a prominent organization that employs numerous players and content creators, recently partnered with CSGORoll, a platform that allows players to trade and win CS:GO skins through betting. Given Twitch’s new rule, G2 Esports may no longer be able to promote CSGORoll during their streams, which could affect their existing partnership.

The ban will likely impact many other streamers as well, as a popular YouTuber reportd that approximately 75% of the top 300 CS:GO Twitch streamers have skin-gambling sponsors. If enforced, these streamers would need to sever ties with these sites and their sponsorship deals or risk being banned from Twitch.

However, some questions remain unanswered. It is unclear whether the rule bans streamers from merely showcasing their own use of CS:GO skin gambling and trading sites. There is also uncertainty about when the rule takes effect and how it affects streamers with existing agreements.

With Valve’s crackdown on skin traders and Twitch’s new guidelines, it appears that the era of CS:GO streamers promoting skin-gambling sites to their audiences is coming to an end.