“While we prohibit sharing links or referral codes on all sites, including slots, roulette or dice games, we have seen some people violate those rules and expose our community to potential harm,” the company said in the statement.
The ban will come into effect from October 18. Sports betting, fantasy sports and poker sites will be allowed on the platform.
Gambling has found a foothold on Twitch. “Slots,” where viewers can watch streamers wager cryptocurrency at online casinos, is now the tenth-most-watched game on Twitch, according to TwitchTracker. Sites like Stake.com affected by the announced ban have sponsored Twitch to attract new players and use cryptocurrency to gamble on their platform.
But gambling activity has come under renewed criticism in recent days after a Twitch streamer livestreamed a video to fans over the weekend claiming they had scammed him out of more than $200,000 for his own gambling addiction.
Top streamers have called on Twitch to ban gambling, with the hashtag #TwitchStopGambling on Twitter. Some have even discussed a week-long boycott during the all-important holiday season.
