Twitch bans don't stop people still watching, but that's changing

Twitch streamers will soon be able to block banned users from continuing to watch their live broadcasts.

Currently, a ban will only stop disruptive or abusive users from being able to communicate via Twitch chat.

But that will change in September with an opt-in feature for all Twitch streamers to immediately cut their live feeds for anyone given a ban.

Twitch streamer Lowco brought attention to the upcoming feature via a post on X, formerly Twitter, where they noted that the ban will currently not extend to a block on VODs or Clips.

But Twitch itself is still considering additional functionality - including the option to IP ban users to avoid anyone getting around the block by simply signing out (or creating a new account).

Last month, Eurogamer's chief Twitch correspondant Ed travelled to TwitchCon to meet with the company and discuss the state of the platform after a often-difficult year so far.

At the time, Twitch said it was in a crucial "trust building period" and working on new ways to support its users - both streamers and viewers.

Just yesterday, Ed highlighted the rise of AI-powered streams on Twitch.