This week Twitch rolled out a beta version of its Bounty Board program, which aims to cut out third-party marketing agencies by directly connecting Twitch streamers with companies who will pay them to stream.

Notably, this program brings the business of sponsored game streams (and the responsibility of clearly disclosing said sponsorships in accordance with FTC guidelines) further in-house at Twitch.

It's also presumably good for Twitch's bottom line, since the platform will act as an intermediary between companies which want to pay people to stream their games and the streamers themselves. It's not clear how much (if any) cut Twitch might take from each bounty transaction; when contacted by Gamasutra, a Twitch representative stated that " since this is a beta test in a very limited run, it’s too early to comment on what a final program might look like, but it will adhere to our transparency policies as it pertains to sponsored content."

Currently, the invite-only, U.S. Twitch Partner-only beta is limited to 'Bounties' for one-hour game streams (rather than say, painting or social eating streams), and some of the bounties have been posted by Twitch itself as it puts the system through its paces.

Streamers can access the Board and sign up for bounties through the Twitch interface; bounties currently come with a set of requirements (including "don't disparage the brand" and "put #Sponsored in your stream title"), a due date, and the promise of a key for the game in question within 72 hours of signing up.

The company says it plans to spend a few months beta-testing the Bounty Board with a staggered rollout of invites; further details about the program can be found on Twitch's website.