Next-gen gamer livestreaming platform Noice announced it is launching a global open beta as well as a rewards program aimed at benefiting its loyal creators.
For now, the rewards program is limited to helping creators monetize if they live in the United Kingdom, the European Union and a few non-member European countries. That’s because the company is still exploring securities regulations in other parts of the world.
Jussi Laakkonen, CEO of Helsinki-based Noice, said in an interview with GamesBeat that this is the next phase of its mission to revolutionize the streaming landscape for creators and viewers.
“It hasn’t been a great year. Twitch viewership is down. It’s possible to create things your fans love and want to buy. We have subscriptions and creator cards. The creators can make their own cards and they earn 70% of the revenue that people pay,” Laakkonen said.
Rewards for streamers/creators
If a creator engages in the reward program, Noice can monitor the growth in viewership and grant rewards based on that performance, whether it is related to follower growth or hours watched per month.
“We reward those things that they do anyway. They are looking to grow their audience, and they’re looking to engage that audience,” Laakkonen said. “But by doing this, we make sure that long-term incentives of the company are aligned with the creators.”
Laakkonen, a seasoned entrepreneur in Finland, started Noice in 2019 and he experimented for a long time. The formal testing of Noice started a year ago.
“We started from making something that’s more appealing not only for watching, but also for playing and getting more engaged in the stream. So that’s the journey we’re still on,” Laakkonen said.
He added, “But during that journey, the one thing that struck me, personally, was that all these livestream platforms, or content platforms, are built on the content that creators make. But they don’t really have part of the financial outcomes of those platforms.”
When YouTube was acquired by Google, the creators with billions of views didn’t share in the reward.
“We feel that that alignment needs to go beyond a revenue share, as it gives you that full alignment of treating them where they have an outcome from the success,” he said.
That is how the company came up with the rewards program. Streamers can also create their own creator cards, and that can be another way they engage with fans.
Opening the beta
Following two significant funding rounds, Noice is now opening up the beta service to new creators who share its challenger mindset.
In an industry-first and in recognition that content platforms’ success is built on the backs of the creators who make the content, Noice will enable monetizing creators in the UK, EU, and EEA to earn Noice Partner Reward Units (PRUs), a pioneering reward program. Laakkonen said it gives monetizing creators the opportunity to participate in the platform’s future success.
Previously, when content platforms like YouTube or Twitch were acquired for $1 billion-plus, creators, who made the content that grew these platforms, didn’t benefit in that financial outcome; Noice is changing that.
In the U.S., laws are stricter about securities, and so that program has to be created separately after getting through legal hurdles. In Europe, Laakkonen said the idea is to create the streamers as contributors to success. If the company has an IPO, then the rewards might be converted to cash.
When creators on Noice increase their viewership, hours watched, engage with their viewers and various other reward events, they earn PRUs. These PRUs offer creators a financial interest in the company’s success and can be converted to cash if and when Noice lists on a stock exchange or is acquired for money. (This is one of the reasons why regulators have to be consulted).
Currently, creators on streaming platforms can be demotivated by fluctuating advertising and subscription revenues, while smaller creators’ access to sponsorships is limited, making it harder to diversify revenue.
Laakkonen said Noice offers the best monetization opportunity for creators, more creators than any other platform are eligible to earn – a non-exclusive platform model with a 70% / 30% revenue split. Combined with new ways to earn by selling virtual items on Noice, creators can multiply their earnings to create a more sustainable income, he said.
Predictions aren’t gambling
For viewers on Noice, the platform goes beyond traditional streaming platforms — Noice viewers can also play, predicting what happens next to the creator they are watching live. This gameplay enhances interaction, deepens the connection between creators and their audience, leading to higher retention and monetization for creators.
The game does not have any gambling or wagering. The prediction game is designed where players can bet a virtual currency on something happening in the next minute, but there is no way of cashing out that money. The reward is implicit in that way, he said.
“It’s not designed to be gambling,” he said.
But where legal, it is possible to consider converting the rewards into a kind of virtual equity in the company. If the company ever goes public, then creators could participate in rewards.
By contrast, rivals such as Twitch reward streamers through subscriptions, where viewers subscribe to the creators’ streams and the player gets a cut. In the case of Noice, the split with the creator will be generous, with 70% going to the creator, Laakkonen said.
Subscriptions and creator cards combined
Noice has those subscriptions too, but it also has creator cards. Players can make more revenue based on the creator cards that they forge.
“There’s demand to do more than just watch, and that seems validated by the engagement and monetization that we’re seeing,” Laakkonen said. “We continue to build that, and then going forward, we’re going to look to even more to enable the creators to make money.”
He added, “Creators are the heart of any platform, and we’re looking to support them even more through this program reward, as well as building more tools for them to make livestreaming easier.”
Creators can record on OBS, which is a go-to recording platform for pro creators. Noice went into beta testing a year ago and it’s been iterating on its platform.
“Now we’re open to all creators who are streaming the games that we have,” Laakkonen said. “And this prediction game is a differentiator for Noice as a livestream platform.”
Supporting top multiplayer games
The full Noice experience currently supports the creators streaming some of the most watched multiplayer games, including Apex Legends, Dead By Daylight, EA Sports FC 25, Fortnite and Valorant.
Noice Predictions will roll out to more games in the coming months. In October, the Noice platform will open to all creators and welcome all creators and all games onto the platform with a brand new predictions gameplay to support every game streamed on Noice.
“At Noice, we are rethinking livestreaming to create new opportunities for creators,” Laakkonen said. “When viewers also play, they are more engaged with the creator. New ways to earn mean creators are already doubling their earnings on Noice. And offering creators a financial stake on the success of the platform means creators are true partners on Noice.”
Laakkonen reiterated the company is not giving out equity as that’s legally complicated. But it will have a “contractual structure” like an incentive or reward.
Laakkonen said he is excited to see high engagement rates among the people who tested the game so far.
“That’s why we’re excited to invest in growth,” he said. He noted that hundreds of creators have opened accounts and are engaging.
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