“While we prohibit sharing links or referral codes to all sites containing slot machines, roulette or dice games, we have seen some circumvent these rules and expose our community to potential harm.”
The ban went into effect on October 18. The platform will continue to allow sports betting, fantasy sports and poker sites.
Gambling has found a foothold on Twitch. According to TwitchTracker, “slot machines,” where viewers can watch streaming bets on cryptocurrencies at online casinos, is now the tenth most-watched game on Twitch. Sites such as Stake.com, affected by the announced ban, have sponsored livestreams on Twitch to attract new players and allow them to use cryptocurrencies to gamble on their platform.
But criticism of gambling activity has come under fire in recent days after a Twitch streamer broadcast a video to fans over the weekend, claiming to have defrauded them of more than $200,000 to fund his gambling addiction.
Top streamers have been calling for Twitch to ban gambling, with the hashtag #TwitchStopGambling trending on Twitter. Some also discussed a week-long boycott during the all-important holiday.
