Experimental Twitch feature will let viewers pay up to $100 to highlight a message in chat

Twitch wants to help viewers support their favorite content creators by allowing them to pay up to $100 to elevate their message in chat.

The "Elevated Chat" experiment will allow viewers in participating channels to make a one-time payment to spotlight a message for a duration ranging from 30 seconds to 2 minutes 30 seconds.

The elevation duration of a chat message will scale with the amount contributed. There are currently five tiers of elevation priced between $5 and $100 dollars.

Multiple viewers will be allowed to send an elevated chat message at once, creating a queue that is managed by streamers and moderators.

Twitch is emphasising that creators will receive a 70/30 split of revenue generated by elevated chats, after taxes and fees. 

Although the streaming giant is pitching the experiment as a "new way for viewers to support their favourite streamers," some people have suggested that Twitch should commit to offering streamers a greater cut of all revenue rather than passing the responsibility onto its community.

Responding to the news on Twitter, one commenter said Twitch should pay creators "what they deserve" and another implored the company to roll out a "70/30 split for all streamers."

The Elevated Chat experiment has been launched just weeks after Twitch explained it will be reducing the revenue split for premium steamers earning over $100,000 on the platform.

Notably, Twitch also declined to boost the revenue cut offered to partnered streamers to 70/30 from 50/50, citing a desire to continue making investments in the platform itself in order to "put more money into streamers' pockets."