Russian streamer Kirill Zabrodin, known as Cake, has reacted to the reduction in maximum video quality on Twitch for viewers in Russia. He also explained why the platform remains essential for content creators. Zabrodin shared his thoughts on his personal Telegram channel.
In his message, Cake described the situation as “the most alarming and crappy news on Twitch in all 12 years of streaming.” He believes the 720p quality cap is not an error but a deliberate step by Twitch to lower its expenses in the region. He drew a parallel with South Korea, noting that Twitch completely exited that region a year after similar quality limitations were introduced.
Watching streams at 720p quality, according to Cake, feels like “a step 15 years back.” While temporary workarounds exist, he cautioned that they are “crutches” and might not be available indefinitely. Addressing the question of why streamers don`t simply move to platforms like YouTube or VK, Cake stated frankly that “advertisers come to streamers on Twitch and nowhere else,” and the majority of the audience is also primarily on Twitch.
He reiterated his initial sentiment, concluding that this is “the most alarming and sad news about Twitch/streaming in the last 12 years, personally for me. Hope dies last…”
The information about Russian Twitch users losing the ability to select 1080p resolution became public on June 23rd. Previously, this option was available.
Finley Holt