Like many major tech companies, Amazon is looking to cut costs. Its Twitch division recently laid off 35 percent of its head count (just over 500 employees) and now it's reducing how much streamers make from each Twitch Prime subscription.

Every Amazon Prime member can toss a Prime subscription in the direction of their favorite Twitch streamer at no extra cost. Since that program debuted in 2016, streamers have received the same amount from Twitch Prime subs as they do from a base paid subscription. That's changing, though.

Starting on June 3, Twitch is moving to a fixed-rate model that bases Prime payouts based on the location of a Prime subscriber (and how much they pay for Amazon Prime)."We believe this is the right structure for the program going forward and are making this change to ensure that the monthly Twitch subscription available to Prime members is a long-term, sustainable benefit for the Twitch community," CEO Dan Clancy wrote in a blog post.

Clancy says that for most countries, the payout rate is dropping by less than five percent, but there are steeper drops elsewhere. For instance, a Prime sub from a viewer in the US will soon be worth $2.25 to a streamer, down from $2.50. That's a drop of 10 percent. A Prime sub from someone in the UK will soon be worth $1.80, while one from a viewer based in Turkey will pay a streamer just nine cents.

As Clancy points out, Prime subscriptions are just one of the ways that streamers can earn money on the platform, alongside tips and regular paid subscriptions. He also announced some changes to the Partner Plus program, which is designed to give smaller creators a bigger slice of the pie.

Twitch is making it much easier for creators to benefit from improved revenue sharing. Until now, they've had to maintain at least 350 paid subscriptions for at least three months. That would qualify them for a 70 percent cut of subs for the next 12 months, up from 50 percent.

Starting on May 1, the platform is changing Partner Plus to a two-tier Plus Program that's based on a points system. A base $5 subscription is worth one point, a $10 Tier 2 sub is worth two points and a $25 Tier 3 sub three points. Gift and Prime subs don't count toward points, but qualifying streamers will get a better cut of revenue from gifted subscriptions.

When a streamer earns at least 100 Plus points for three consecutive months (points reset on the first of each month), they'll receive a 60 percent split of subscription revenue from the next 12 months. If they maintain 350 Plus points, that revenue share jumps up to 70 percent in their favor. Clancy says these changes will enable three times as many streamers to qualify for improved revenue sharing. It should result in a solid increase in earnings for many of them, while giving those who hover around 300-350 points a bit more of a cushion instead of dropping back to a 50 percent revenue share

Twitch announced one more change to its revenue-sharing model. It's getting rid of the $100,000 cap on the 70-30 revenue split for high-earning creators. A change implemented last year saw that split drop to 50 percent after a streamer hit $100,000 in subscription revenue. This won't change anything for the vast majority of creators, but it could help Twitch convince high-profile streamers to stay on its platform instead of jumping to the likes of YouTube or Kick.

In the wake of the layoffs, Clancy said Twitch is still unprofitable (streaming live video to millions of people simultaneously isn't cheap!), so something had to give. While the Twitch Prime changes will be hard to swallow for some streamers, the perk wasn't really sustainable as is. Reducing payouts is better for creators than the program going away entirely. Twitch will also be hoping that improved revenue sharing will push creators to convince their viewers to shell out for a paid subscription instead.

After a relatively short delay, you'll soon be able to enter the uniquely strange world of Death Stranding on Apple devices. Hideo Kojima's walking simulator will be available on iPhone 15 Pro models and iPads and Macs with M-series chips on January 30. This version of the gloomy open-world adventure will run you $40. However, if you pre-order, you'll save up to 50 percent.

Since this is the director's cut of Death Stranding, it includes extras not available in the base game. Those include additional locations such as an underground factory, expanded story missions and more ways to help Sam Porter Bridge deliver packages, like a cargo launcher and a stabilizer to prevent the hero of the piece from falling over and losing some gear.

Kojima is far from done with this universe. A sequel is in the works, with rumors suggesting that more details are coming in the next couple of weeks. Kojima Productions has also teamed up with indie film powerhouse A24 to make a Death Stranding movie.

Meta's Oversight Board has raised concerns over automated moderation while overturning a decision by the company to leave a Holocaust denial post on Instagram. Holocaust denial is deemed hate speech under Meta's policies. The post in question depicted Squidward from SpongeBob Squarepants and purported to include true facts about the Holocaust. However, the claims "were either blatantly untrue or misrepresented historical facts," the Oversight Board said.

Users reported the post six times after it first appeared in September 2020, but in four instances Meta's systems either determined that the content didn't violate the rules or they automatically closed the case. In early 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, Meta started automatically closing content reviews to lessen the workload for human reviewers and free up bandwidth for manual review of high-risk reports. All the same, two of the Squidward post reports were also deemed non-violating by human reviewers.

Last May, one user lodged an appeal against Meta's decision to leave the offending content on Instagram. But this appeal was again closed automatically by Meta due to its COVID-19 automation policies, according to the Oversight Board. The user then appealed to the board, which took up the case.

The board conducted an assessment of Holocaust denial content across Meta's platforms and it found that the Squidward meme was used to spread various types of antisemitic narratives. It notes that some users attempt to evade detection and continue to spread Holocaust denial content by using alternate spellings of words (such as replacing letters with symbols) and using cartoons and memes.

The Oversight Board said it's concerned that Meta continued to employ its COVID-19 automation policies as of last May, "long after circumstances reasonably justified them." It also cited unease over "the effectiveness and accuracy of Meta’s moderation systems in removing Holocaust denial content from its platforms." It notes that human reviewers can't granularly label offending content as "Holocaust denial" (such posts are filtered into a "hate speech" bucket). The board also wants to know more about the company's ability to "prioritize accurate enforcement of hate speech at a granular policy level" as it leans more heavily on AI for content moderation.

The board recommended that Meta "take technical steps" to make sure it systematically and sufficiently measures how accurate it is in enforcing Holocaust denial content. That includes gathering more granular information. The board also asked Meta to confirm publicly whether it has ceased all COVID-19 automation policies it established during the onset of the pandemic.

When asked for comment, Meta directed Engadget to its formal response to the board's decision on its transparency site. The company agrees that it left the offending post on Instagram in error and, at the time the board took up the case, Meta said it had removed the content. Following the board's case decision, Meta says it will "initiate a review of identical content with parallel context. If we determine that we have the technical and operational capacity to take action on that content as well, we will do so promptly." It plans to review the board's other recommendations and issue an update later.