Mixer Gifts Partners Cash During Coronavirus Outbreak

When it comes to jobs that are particularly well-suited for working from home during a global pandemic, streaming is definitely near the top of the list. Still, while there's no lack of streamers out there, there aren't a ton who can call streaming their full-time job, so there are plenty who aren't entirely immune to the squeeze COVID-19 is putting on the economy.

To help bridge the gap a little bit, Kotaku reports that Microsoft is giving each partnered Mixer streamer a $100 gift, citing numerous streamers who are thanking the company on Twitter. To become a Mixer partner, streamers need to have at least 2,000 followers, stream 12 or more days for 25 or more hours per month, and must accounts that are at least 2 months old or older.

Those requirements mean that not every streamer on the service has a chance to become partnered, but they are less stringent than Twitch's requirements for partnership, which require streamers to hit a certain number of average concurrent viewers. Mixer has no such concurrent viewer requirement, making it easier for streamers to gain a partnership and start earning a cut of their subscriber revenue.

Microsoft's Mixer has long been playing catch-up to other platforms like Twitch and YouTube, going so far as signing big streamers from those platforms to exclusive streaming contracts with Mixer. Because of those contract signings, Kotaku notes that Microsoft is catching some heat for the rather paltry amount it's offering Mixer partners. $100 isn't much in the grand scheme of things, particularly for small-time streamers who will have trouble making ends meeting during the pandemic.

On the other side of that coin, $100 is better than nothing, and it's more than what other platforms are doing for streamers – Twitch, for instance, didn't reply when Kotaku reached out for comment. We'll see if other platforms follow Microsoft's lead in this, and we'll let you know if any of them announce similar programs.