Late last year, Twitch began to seriously address the issue of gambling streams on its platform, issuing new guidelines banning such content and causing an exodus of content creators who gamble on their streams. This led to big names like xQc, a hugely popular Canadian streamer who often gambles for large sums of money and admits he has his own problems, to move to Twitch's rival Kick, which allows gambling (although $100 million undoubtedly helped).

Twitch is now beginning to focus more on these guidelines, issuing a new proclamation that prohibits streamers from promoting or sponsoring Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) skin gambling sites The company has been in the process of While it is a near impossible task to estimate the size of this gray industry, it is safe to say that it is huge, very popular, and has been a part of the CS:GO scene since Valve added skins (by the way, I have in the past through sites where you can bet on tournament results CS:GO pro players and teams are sponsored (e.g. G2 esports).

Even if no one knows exactly how big it is, the size of CS:GO skin gambling is a particular focus for those who believe that Twitch should not have a gambling venue. There is also an age factor: because Twitch's audience skews younger, there is an argument that skin gambling content is effectively being promoted to minors.

Because CS:GO players are generally very interested in skins, there are many types of skin-related streams. These rules do not seem to affect the standard format of streaming streamers buying keys in bulk and opening crates. While some equate CS:GO crates with gambling because the roulette-like spinner reveals what has been opened, there is a clear difference between opening loot boxes in-game to obtain skins and betting on skins through third-party websites.

Twitch's new language specifically highlights skin gambling in CS:GO, stating that going forward "skin gambling promotions and sponsorships are prohibited by our policy." This language leaves open the question of what exactly is allowed: if a CS:GO streamer gambles skins on one site without having a sponsorship or affiliation with that site, is that prohibited? There is also the question of what this means for CS:GO streamers who have some sort of affiliation with these sites that, until this new clarification, were within Twitch's rules. It is going to be a very tough choice to either get out of the contract or move on to Kick.

"Here's a brief explanation of what today's update means," a Twitch spokesperson said in an email. "We have added to our list of banned gambling sites (currently 6 in total) and specifically indicated that promotion and sponsorship of CSGO skins is not allowed on our service. We have observed renewed interest in CSGO skins and wanted to make our position clear."

The latter is probably due to Valve's recent announcement of Counter-Strike 2, especially the megaton of news that all CS:GO skins will carry over to the new game. This has led to a surge in the skins market, with silly money being exchanged over some pretty fancy weapons, so it's little wonder that Twitch has noticed an increase in gambling-related skins content. One of the most popular CS:GO streamers, ohnePixel, seems to be inseparable from the various shenanigans regarding skins.

Twitch's new policy has resulted in a 75% drop in gambling content viewership across the site. The announcement obviously caused a bit of a stir in the CS:GO community, but the evidence suggests that it targets specific sites and prohibits "promotion or sponsorship," but does not necessarily prohibit the practice itself. This new rule could have a major impact.