It is currently in a beta phase, open to partners and affiliates who are eligible. The requirements to have this feature enabled on your account are as follows:
- Must broadcasted at least 90 unique days as affiliate or partner.
- No Twitch TOS, Community Guideline violations in the same 90 day unique time frame.
You have to set this option before you start streaming, it will not allow for changing during a active session.
Following are my personal opinions:
PROs for using subscriber only feature
- Additional Monetization
- Gated content barrier, due note their is a 5 minute preview window
- Perk / Loyalty building
- First time viewers maybe turned off by paywall
- Embedded streams on external websites will show splash subscriber screen, no preview with out login
Subscriber streams have a special tag assigned to them which allows you to see all active streams that are currently in this mode.
Visit the following URL to see this in action:
https://www.twitch.tv/directory/all/tags/c22bdbea-f4f9-40b4-9f01-bd6f702a37f8
Notice: Many gaming companies such as Blizzard, Riot, Valve, CCP / EVE Online, CD Projekt Red and more have specific terms against using their IP behind paywalls. Make sure to review all video policies and obtain correct licensing/permission before using content from others in sub only mode.