During a recent livestream, Knut and Mizkif revealed that Twitch ad revenue has plummeted to an all-time low, with earnings dropping by more than half compared to previous periods. This dramatic decline comes at a time when viewers report seeing more ads than ever on the Amazon-owned platform.
“Ad revenue has dropped over 50%,” Knut stated plainly during the broadcast, with Mizkif confirming the same experience on his channel. What makes this revelation particularly striking is that it’s happening during Q4, which is usually the strongest time for advertising spending thanks to holiday promotions.
Twitch ad revenue crashes over 50% according to streamers Knut and Mizkif https://t.co/bPAHGoMIFt pic.twitter.com/7lmtCdf3O2
— Spilled (@SpilledGG) May 20, 2025
The revenue crash seems to be hitting both big and small creators across Twitch, so it’s not just affecting a few channels. Neither streamer gave out specific numbers, but both were clearly worried about how much this hurts their business.
This drop is happening while users everywhere are complaining about having to sit through more annoying ads than ever. Plenty of viewers say they’re stuck watching up to eight unskippable ads when they first join streams, which makes it challenging to check out new creators or browse different channels.
“Every time I get blasted with eight ads in a row, I just close Twitch and do something else,” one regular viewer commented, showing how easy it is for people to leave the platform. This exodus of viewers, combined with a lack of ad revenue—is affecting creators’ bottom line.
Industry experts say there could be a few reasons behind the overall 8.1% dip in revenue. Advertisers might be moving their budgets to older, more well-known platforms like YouTube and Google because they think they’ll get better value. Plus, more people are using ad blockers, which means fewer people actually see the ads, cutting into the money streamers and Twitch can make.
Twitch has admitted it’s struggled to make a profit, even though Amazon owns it. The site has tried several new ways to make money, like showing more ads and forcing pre-roll ads before streams, but those changes seem to be annoying viewers rather than growing the cash flow.
For streamers who count on ad income to pay the bills, things are starting to look pretty grim. Lots of big creators have already started making money in other ways, like with sponsorships, merch, or moving content to sites like YouTube and Kick, which have different ways for creators to get paid.
This gap between showing more ads but earning less money is becoming a real problem—more ads seem to drive viewers away, which means fewer people watching, ultimately leading to a drop in revenue. If this keeps up, Twitch could be headed for some tough times.
