What the **** is going on with Twitch?

So, regarding the update to the viewer calculation algorithm on the Twitch platform, we need to explain what's actually going on.

1. In August 2025, Twitch published news that it would be cracking down on viewer-botting. This is scary, relevant, and something they should have done a long time ago.

2. In early August, Twitch rolled out its first update. They expanded the IP blacklist, set up Cloudflare, and killed off the cheap methods of inflating viewer counts. Now, you actually have to be watching the stream for it to count you as a viewer.

3. Then, Twitch overdid it and started removing traffic from real viewers due to a buggy filter (likely based on viewing activity, but that's not confirmed) on the stream. This cut the real viewership by 50-70% in sudden drops.

4. They turned this buggy system off and on again twice in the last 4 days.

What's the conclusion? Twitch developers were a bit incompetent before, and they still are.

Right now, the algorithm that will get you 100% of the viewers you ordered is simple: we cover the shortfall ourselves, provided we have the resources.

Where could Twitch go from here?
Activity and accounts... Using the Kick method (moderators setting a hard cap) or the YouTube method (additional filters for large viewer counts). Another option: No activity = NOT A VIEWER...
In short, they're implementing absurd rules to prove to advertisers that we're not losing to Kick and others...

What do I recommend?

• Buy more viewers to balance out the metrics.

• Views and raids still work.

• Don't stream at all during these days.

• Move to alternative platforms: Kick, YouTube, VK Play, and others.

What are we doing now?
We are trying to cover the shortfall ourselves based on our capacity. Theoretically, everyone will have to raise their prices 2-3 times if the system doesn't fix itself.