Twitch accused of rainbow capitalism and told to ‘up their game’ after Pride Month merch falls flat
Twitch Pride. (Twitch)
Twitch has launched a new range of Pride merch, but has come under fire for allegedly trying to ‘profit from Pride’.
Available via Amazon (who own the streaming service), the range includes t-shirts (£19), hoodies (£39) and sweatshirts (£31) with a Pride 2021 logo on the front. The back is covered with the phrase “we stream as one” in the colours of different Pride flags.
The apparel is available throughout June (in select regions) and for each purchase, $5 will be donated to Trans Lifeline.
However, this donation total has been capped at $25,000.
In response, many streamers and Twitter users are concerned at why Twitch should cap the total at all.
After all, Amazon is a multi-billion dollar business and with only $5 from each purchase going to charity, it’s presumed the remainder will go directly into Twitch’s pockets.
“I appreciate this, but I feel like I’d rather see the cap removed. Otherwise it just looks like you’re profiting via rainbow capitalism,” responded streamer Dagonmar.
Why only up to $25,000? And why not all profits from the pride merch? I appreciate this, but I feel like I'd rather see the cap removed. Otherwise it just looks like you're profiting via rainbow capitalism.
— Dagonmar (@dagonmartv) June 7, 2021
“I mean, that’s nice of you and I’m certain that Trans Lifeline and the people they help will appreciate it, but some of us are over on Twitch giving 20% or more of our revenue to charity, with no restrictions. How about you up your game a bit?” said streamer MuirDragonne.
I mean, that's nice of you and I'm certain that Trans Lifeline and the people they help will appreciate it, but some of us are over on Twitch giving 20% or more of our revenue to charity, with no restrictions. How about you up your game a bit? 😉🏳️⚧️— MuirlySims 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 (All EA posts are an #AD) (@MuirDragonne) June 7, 2021
Another response from danimrlt reads: “Profiting from the LGBTQ+ community while doing nothing to fight the rampant racism, homophobia and transphobia in your platform, and just $25k as donation, that’s like 0,00001% of your yearly profits.”
https://twitter.com/danimrlt/status/1401962434080952324?s=20
For Pride Month, Twitch is highlighting LGBT+ streamers across the front page, however, this merch campaign has certainly fallen a bit flat with their user base.
To see how other games companies are supporting Pride this month, check out our roundup.
Recently Twitch updated its list of tags to include a diverse range of identities, meaning LGBT+ streamers can finally stream content with tags that suit them – a major step in inclusivity on the platform.
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