#week10

In this current Internet era, livestreaming🎥has become the biggest digital entertainment form. Platforms like YouTube🔴and Twitch🟣 allow creators to do livestreams and interact with audiences🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒in real time💬. Both platforms can livestream, but it serves differently. In this blog, I will cover on the livestream🎥model of YouTube🔴and Twitch🟣, and the rise of multistream🌐.

▶️YouTube Livestream Model

Main features is streaming🎥yourself in real time. People use YouTube live because it is the second most viewed platform in the world🌍. Most YouTube streamer stream🎥 a specific video game🎮based on their channel. Moreover, audiences use Super Chat💰to support their favorite creators, and creators are able to set the live chat to member or subscriber-exclusive. In order to get monetization🤑on YouTube, creators must join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) from YouTube Studio.

📋The Requirements Are:

✅1,000 subscribers

✅Either 4,000 watch hours in the past 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in the past 90 days.

✅Residence in one of the eligible countries

✅Have an AdSense account

(source: YouTube)

💸How YouTube creators make money on YouTube live?

Something you may have ads displayed during live🎞️, YouTube uses AdSense, a Google advertisement program, to connect with your content. On an average, youtubers may expect to earn $18💵per 1000 ad views, but Youtube still keeps a revenue share of 45% of that money💵, meaning creators only get the average around $9.90💵 per 1,000 ad views (Vincenzini, 2026). The process🔄is very simple, the brand and advertisers use Cost Per Mille (CPM) or Cost-Per-Click (CPC) from AdSense as a bidding strategic. CPM ads charge🤑advertisers and pay💰creators based on impressions, while CPC ads are based on the number of clicks a video ad receives (Vincenzini, 2026). Another income is from the Super Chat💰. Basically, any audiences can donate some money💵to support their favorite creators which creates deep connections❤️between creators and audiences on YouTube livestream.

🟣Twitch Livestream Model

Similar to YouTube live, the main feature is to stream🎥yourself in real time. However, unlike YouTube live, Twitch has a diverse livestreaming culture🎮, and Twitch streamer has build their personalise contents to niche audiences👥. This step is very important, especially among the popular gamers🎮, because of its strong real-time interaction🔥on Twitch chat. Spamming emotes🗿🗿🗿in chat is very common. Twitch streamers and users👥are able to customize emotes for stronger engagement🔥in chat. On Twitch🟣, audiences are using bits💎and subscriptions💰to support their favorite Twitch streamer. It will appear on chat and screen when audiences purchased. In order to get monetization🤑on Twitch, Twitch streamer may be invited to join the Affiliate program.

📋The Requirements Are:

✅Reach 25 Followers

✅Stream for 4 Hours

✅Stream on 4 Different Days

✅Reach an Average of 3 Viewers (on 4 different days)*

Once the requirement is achieved, monetization features are enabled with a maximum of 5 accounts. If you exceed this limit, the system automatic remove from your account with the least active. Here are the features provided on Twitch:

(Source: Twitch)

💸How Twitch streamer make money?

First is subscription⭐. Starting at $4.99 with additional tiers at $9.99💵 and $24.99💵and Twitch streamers get 50% of each subscriptions fee💰(Luci, 2026). If you become popular Twtich streamer, you are able to negotiate for higher📈percentage of what you earn through subs alone (Luci, 2026). Second, gifted subs🎁and bits💎. Twitch streamer set sub goal visible on-screen and in panels 🖵(Luci, 2026). Gift sub can fastest growth because it bring new people into the “sub community”👥, create hype moments🔥, and reinforce social proof🫂 (Luci, 2026). For bits💎, viewers purchase💸the bits directly from the platform🟣without leaving the livestream while hangout with their favourite Twitch streamers. Each bits counts as a single USD penny💵 (Luci, 2026). As a bonus, users receive special Twitch badges for handing out their bits. Twitch users also can donate bits💎to their favourite streamers under the part of the affiliate program. Third, donations and tips💵. Using a third-party program like Streamlabs, viewers can give money💸to Twitch streamers via a donation (or tip) option on their channels(Luci, 2026). Establish a Twitch panel in your "about me" part or develop a chatbot command that will provide the link to make it simpler for viewers to pay to your channel. Lastly, ads revenue🎞️. Ads revenue generally generate between $1-10💵per thousands views, the ads revenue income will directly➡️receive through Twitch streamers (Luci, 2026). However, it is not worth❌ it as many users have adblocker to pass through➡️ads. This is where Twitch streamer are able to control how ads🎞️often run on their channels. Running advertisements too frequently will drive viewers away from your channel, so it's preferable to use them sparingly⌛.

🌐Multistream Model

Recently, many creators are starting multistream, where livestream is broadcast on multiple platform such as YouTube, Twitch, and Kick🚀.

Multistreaming allows creators to:

Reach wider audiences🌍

Increase visibility across platforms📈

Grow creator personal brand faster⭐

This reflect what Baym (2021) describe as creator culture, where creators not just simply produce content, creators are using multiple digital platforms to reach wider audiences and monetization opportunities📱💼.

✨Conclusion

Overall, YouTube and Twitch represent two different livestream formats. YouTube focuses on long-term growth, while Twitch focuses on live interaction and community engagement🤝. With the rise⬆️of multistreaming, creators no longer need to choose a suitable platform to livestream and reach niche audiences🌐✨.  

📚Reference

Baym, N. K. (2021). Creator culture: An introduction to global social media entertainment. NYU Press.

Chillingworth, A. (2025). How stream on YouTube Live: Your guide | Epidemic Sound. This Is the Epidemic Sound Blog | Epidemic Sound. https://www.epidemicsound.com/blog/how-to-use-youtube-live/#what-are-youtube-lives-main-features 

Luci. (2026). How to make money on Twitch (2026): Realistic methods + first $50 plan. StreamScheme. https://www.streamscheme.com/how-to-make-money-on-twitch/ 

Murphy, C. (2025). How Twitch.Tv and its business model work. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/082115/how-twitchtv-works-and-its-business-model.asp 

Twitch (n.d.) About monetization on Twitch. https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/streamer-benefits?language=en_US 

Plants vs Zombies [hereafter will be PVZ] was one of the most iconic tower defense games and my childhood game🎮.

Created by PopCap Games, the series was gaining a lot of love❤️for its fun gameplay. However, recent development show the company has become greedier💸.

An example is Plant vs Zombie Replanted, the remake version of the classic Plant vs Zombie has received criticism😡for missing nostalgic elements; some players accuse the game was using AI asset🤖, and lack of music🎵, sound effect🎶, and features🎮.

The addition of microtransactions, gacha systems, “pay-to-win” model 💰, and balance issues⚖️ in Plants vs. Zombies 2 and Plants vs Zombies 3 Evolved.

Because of this, fan-made PVZ mods became the only way for best PVZ experience and save the franchise. This is participatory culture (Jenkins, 2006), where fans are not just consume it. Instead, fan start to modify it themselves.

🌱 What PVZ mod I played? 

Two PVZ mod I played are PVZ2 Reflourished and PVZ Fusion, but I will talk about PVZ2 Reflourished🕒. PVZ2 Reflourished is an expansion mod that continue after the event of Modern Day34 in PVZ2. The mod introduced expansion level for each world, exclusive world🗺️, new plants🌱 and zombies🧟 from the Chinese version of PVZ2 and fan made plants.

Recently, Reflourished received an update which introduce Fairytale Forest, featuring news storyline📖alongside with new plants🌱 and zombies🧟.

🔥Why Make This Mods so Peak?

The mods so peak because of creativity and passion of the PVZ fan. Unlike the official version of PVZ2 which focused on monetisation, Reflourished prioritise and balance gameplay experience🎯.

PVZ2 Reflourished offer:

1️⃣No Microtransaction 💸🚫

2️⃣Rework plants ability for better strategy 🌱

3️⃣New zombie with new mechanics 🧟

4️⃣New world🗺️, levels and stories📖

5️⃣Balance changes in each update ⚖️

6️⃣Fan made music🎵

Instead of using paywalls model, Reflourished focus on strategy, enjoyment and progression. This allow players to experience the best PVZ experience🌻✨.

✨Conclusion

Overall, PVZ mods are an example of how the creative power of the fans can be used to save and enhance a beloved video game❤️🎮. Despite the official version fades, the community carries on PVZ alive through innovation, passion and shared nostalgia✨.

📚Reference

Duan, H., Liu, Y., & Cai, W. (2026). User-Generated Content and Editors in Games: A Comprehensive Survey. ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications and Applications.

Jenkins, H. (2006). Welcome to convergence culture. Henry Jenkins, 19, 1-6.

What questions do you have about data driven web writing you would like answered? I would like to better understand how creators balance data-driven decisions with creativity in web writing and content production. For example, how much should engagement metrics like watch time, click-through rate, and retention actually influence content decisions versus personal creative direction? I also want to know how reliable audience data is when planning long-term content strategies, especially on platforms like YouTube where algorithms constantly change. Another question is how smaller creators can effectively use data without advanced tools or analytics training. Finally, I want to understand how ethical concerns fit into optimizing content purely for performance metrics.

How will your research question help you collect data?

How will your research question add to the ongoing conversation about content strategy?