Twitch releasing 30 million usernames from era of predecessor, justin.tv (update)

Twitch is finally set to release more than 30 million usernames associated with the company’s predecessor streaming service, justin.tv, that have been locked up since 2014.

An email sent to Twitch partners, shared by TechCrunch, confirmed the news. Streamers involved in Twitch’s Partner program will be eligible to change their username starting today. Those who stream on Twitch but aren’t a part of the Partners program will be able to request similar changes beginning late next week, according to the email.

“All you will need to do is change your name through the standard flow on your settings page,” the email reads. “If you’ve already changed your username in the past 60 days, fear not as we’ve also overridden that cooldown for you.”

The email also addresses some of the bigger concerns streamers may have with the change. Twitch users who choose to change their names won’t see any impact on their revenue, nor will abandoned usernames be immediately put up for grabs. This means that people won’t be able to snag a popular username if a Twitch streamer decides to change it. The full list of questions addressed can be seen below.

Your revenue will not be impacted. We want to stress that a username change will lead to absolutely no loss of revenue.

Your old username will not be recycled. Except in special circumstances, your username will not be made available again to anyone else.

If you change your username, you will lose access to your broadcaster stats associated with your old username. If you want to preserve your prior broadcast stats, you must export your stats prior to the name change.

Your channel URL will not redirect to your new username. You will need to update the URL anywhere you are using it — your business card, Twitter or Facebook profile, etc.

Justin.tv was founded in 2007 and started with just one channel, which featured Justin Kan livestreaming 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Later in the year, the website opened the door to more channels, allowing others to livestream. In February 2014, Twitch.tv and justin.tv’s parent company rebranded as Twitch Interactive. In August 2014, justin.tv was officially shut down, with the focus of the company remaining solely on Twitch.

Polygon has reached out to Twitch for confirmation on the email and will update when more information becomes available.

Update: A Twitch representative told Polygon that releasing the usernames previously attached to justin.tv has “been a long-awaited ask that we’re excited to roll out to the Twitch community very soon, and we’re taking a phased approach to doing so.”