When watching a stream on Twitch, you can’t miss noticing some of the viewers getting channel points. It is but obvious for you to wonder how to get some channel points.
This article takes you through the process of getting channel points and also explains their significance both to the streamer as well as the viewer.
What Are Twitch Channel Points?
Before I spill the beans to let you how to get channel points, it is important to know what they actually are.
In simple words, channel points are the reward points that you get from Twitch for engaging and watching a channel. The most important benefit is that you have accumulated a sizeable number of points you can redeem them to get certain exclusive rewards within the stream you collected them.
These rewards could range from highlighting your message in the chat box so that your streamer does not miss your comment to even reminding him to take a sip of water. It goes without saying that some of such rewards can be a massive help in improving your engagement with the streamer. It’s worth noting here that each channel point redemption is set up by the streamer himself/herself and such redemptions could be anything as long as they conform to Twitch’s Points Acceptable Use Policy.
One of the most significant aspects of these points that you should be aware of is that they never expire. Thus, you can keep getting back to the same channel to stack up as many points as you want. However, you must know that channel points cannot be transferred from one stream to another. In other words, you cannot use channel points accumulated in one stream in another stream.
What Do Streamers Get From Channel Points?
As far as monetary rewards are concerned, Channel points cannot be transferred to real money. In other words, there are no monetary rewards for streamers. The main purpose of these Channel points is to help a streamer increase his engagement with his audience or viewers in order to keep them hooked to his streams.
If you, as a streamer, set up interesting channel point redemptions, you are likely to keep your viewers engaged in your streams with greater participation. Not just this, the more engaging your chat becomes, the longer new viewers are likely to watch your stream. Yet another benefit of having more viewers is that Twitch is more likely to recommend your streams to others.
In other words, even though the streamer does not get any cash or monetary reward from the use of channel points, his stream is likely to get more engaging which in turn is going to be highly effective in growing his channel. And when the channel grows, the streamer is likely to make much higher monetary gains either through Twitch Affiliate membership or as a Twitch Partner.
How to Set Up Channel Point Redemptions on Twitch
First of all, setting up channel point redemptions is possible only when you upgrade either to a Twitch Affiliate or Partner. As mentioned above, channel point redemptions are highly customizable. Now, you have two options in setting them up – you can either choose from a list of pre-made channel points redemptions or you can get creative and set them as you wish. Not just, it is also possible for you to customize the channel points icons and rename them in order to give a personal touch!
Here are some simple and easy steps for you to customize your channel points:
- Firstly, you need to go to your Creator Dashboard. For this, you need to click the user icon located at the top right corner of the screen and select Creator Dashboard from the drop-down menu.
- Now, select Viewer Rewards
- The next step is to select Channel Points and once you do so, you need to flick the switch in order to enable channel points
- Now, you can customize the icon and name of your channel points by selecting Customize Points Display
- In order to set up your channel point redemptions, all you have to do is select Manage Rewards & Challenges. You can either scroll down and activate default rewards or your can also select +Add New Custom Rewards (in order to set up your own redemption rewards)
- While setting up Custom Rewards, you are required to input the name of your redemption along with a description, the cost of this redemption, and also set up an icon for the same. Not just this, you can and set the limit as to how many times it can be redeemed within a stream.
Setting up redemptions is where you can get highly creative in order to increase your engagement with your viewers. Thus, try to create interesting and fun redemptions.
How to Get Channel Points on Twitch
As it should be clear now, Twitch tends to reward you with channel points when you engage in a stream, irrespective of the fact whether you participate in the chat or not. Yep! Even if you are just watching the stream, you are likely to get Channel points. Having said that, you are going to gain Channel points much faster if you:
- actively participate in the chat
- watch the stream a couple of times in a row
- take part in raids, etc.
Now, one of the most important things to keep in mind is that there could be two ways in which channel points are added to your balance:
- First of all, they could be added to your balance automatically without you doing anything at all.
- Another way points could be added is that you will notice a pop-up appear next to your points balance and you will have to click in order to accept them.
Let’s check out how you can earn channel points:
| Action | Channel Points Earned |
| 1. Watching the Channel | 10 Points for every 5 minutes of watching the stream live |
| 2. Actively Watching the Channel | 50 Points for every 15 minutes of watching the liver stream. Actively watching means taking part in the chat. |
| 3. Participating in a raid | 250 points for joining a raid |
| 4. Following a channel | Viewer gets 300 Channel points when he follows a channel |
| 5. Watch Streak 2 | The viewer gets 300 Channe points when he watches two consecutive streams. However, each instance must of at least 10 minutes in length. The second instance must have ended at least 30 minutes before the beginning of the second stream. This rule applies to all watch streaks. |
| 6. Watch Streak 3 | 350 points for returning to a stream for the 3rd time. |
| 7. Watch Streak 4 | 400 Channel points for returning to a stream for the 4th time |
| 8. Watch Streak 5+ | For returning to watch the 5th stream, the viewer gets 450 Channel points |
| 9. 1st Cheer | 350 Channel points for the first cheer on a channel in 30 days. Those cheering anonymously do not get any points. |
| 10. 1st Gifted Subscription | 500 Channel points for gifting their first subscription in 30 days. Those gifting anonymously do not get any points. |
Subscriber channel point bonuses
Yet another way to gain Channel points is by subscribing to a channel. It’s worth noting that Twitch offers 3 subscription tiers and with each of the tiers you get difference channel points.
Here’s the break up:
- Tier 1 subscribers get channel points multiplied by 1.2 for watching the channel.
- Tier 2 subscribers get their channel points multiplied by 1.4 for watching the channel.
- Tier 3 subscribers get their channel points multiplied by 2.0 for watching the channel.
How to Use Channel Points on Twitch
Using your channel points is very simple and easy. For those who are not already aware of it, your channel points balance is likely to appear in the chat, just left to the chat button.
All that you need to do is just click on your channel points balance and a pop-up box will appear showing channel point redemptions. Now, you need to select a redemption that you would like to spend your channel points on and you are done!
Conclusion
This is almost all that you need to know about channel points, how to get them and redeem them. As a viewer, they can be a great way to show your participation in a live stream. On the other hand, as a streamer, these channel points can be used to engage more with your audience. Try to be as creative with channel point redemptions as possible and you should see your viewer engagement soar like never before!
