Twitch subscription pricing will change to more closely match local economies, starting with Turkey and Mexico on May 20.
The standard cost of a tier 1 sub on Twitch has always roughly matched up with the price of $5, no matter where you are in the world. While this isn't a huge amount to show your support to your favorite creators if you live in an economically advantaged country, other places around the world end up paying above the odds.
In Mexico, for instance, the very useful Big Mac index (an informal measure of international currency parity that uses the McDonald's staple burger as a fixed comparison) suggests that the currency is extremely undervalued compared to the dollar. The result is that a Big Mac can be bought in Mexico for just 42 Pesos while exchanging to pay the $5.66 price in dollars would cost you 112 Pesos.
The new price for a tier 1 Twitch sub in Mexico will be 48 Pesos, which is much, much closer to the actual value of the sub in the country. In Turkey, another country that has a particularly undervalued currency at the moment, the new tier 1 sub price will be 9.90 Lira, instead of around 42 currently.
We’re rolling out one of the biggest changes in Twitch history, which will help creators build larger, more global communities: Local Subs Pricing.
— Twitch (@Twitch) May 17, 2021
The price of a sub in most countries will be lowered, starting with Mexico and Turkey.
Learn more: https://t.co/LzKQxynb5B pic.twitter.com/zNBeRC4WyO
Twitch intends to roll these changes out to basically every country outside of the USA, you can check to see if your country is due to get a much more reasonable price for supporting your favorite streamers on this list here.
Most countries in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Europe will see local pricing come in in the third quarter this year, with a gradual rollout to help creators adjust.
Also, despite lower overall sub pricing, Twitch expects there to be less of an impact on creators' bottom lines as there will be an increase in subscriptions. However, to even out the potential dip during the transition period, Twitch will cover 100% of the baseline revenue for a channel for three months, slowly reducing the cover over 12 months from the pricing change.
You can read more about how the changes will be covered by Twitch in their latest blog about the local pricing changes. Are you more likely to subscribe if the price was much closer to that of a Big Mac in your home country?
