Twitch will be removing the ability for viewers of livestreams to purchase games and in-game items directly through the service on November 27, 2018.
This feature, which was first implemented in April of 2017, allowed viewers of livestreams the option to “Buy Now” and purchase the game being streamed and help support the streamer they were watching financially. In a statement given to Techraptor, Amazon explained the decision as made due to the feature failing to increase revenue for streamers.
“We are discontinuing this feature to invest in other ways to help you obtain games and in-game items directly on Twitch while supporting streamers – including through extensions on Twitch like Amazon Blacksmith, which allows viewers to supports streamers through purchases of games and other items.”
Content purchased through this feature will not be lost, content can still be redeemed by linking your account, games can still be played through the desktop app or UPlay, and all unopened Twitch Crates will be opened on November 28 if you do not open them yourself. Games available via Twitch included South Park: The Fractured But Whole, H1Z1, Warframe, and many others. Discord, a chat service, recently opened their own storefront, but does not support any specific server and is just another digital storefront online.