Streaming service Twitch (which was recently bought by Amazon) has promised that from now there'll be "complete transparency" with regards to influencer campaigns, or what you might normally refer to as paid-for or sponsored content.
"Because of a lack of clear best practices and shifting regulatory guidelines, coupled with a sometimes less-than-transparent sponsor relationship, these kinds of campaigns have become a bit of a dark corner in the industry, and that's bad for everyone," Twitch said in yesterday's blogpost.
"For these reasons, gamers can tend to look skeptically on the ecosystem because they don't know what is paid-for content and what is not. It also opens influencers to potential criticism.
"While we have always encouraged our broadcasters to acknowledge if they are playing games as part of a promotional campaign, we are now establishing a much more transparent approach to all paid programs on our platform and hope that it sets a precedent for the broader industry. Simply put: We want complete transparency and unwavering authenticity with all content and promotions that have a sponsor relationship."
Twitch also confirmed that from here on in all sponsored content will be clearly marked, and Tweets promoting said content will also be highlighted. This new policy, however, only applies to campaign deals instigated by Twitch, and individuals are free to do as they please, although broadcasters they will continue to be "encouraged" to be open and transparent if they're playing something as part of a promotional campaign.