Chaturbate is proudly sponsoring the Live Cam Awards this year. What does this partnership mean to the company, and why is it important to recognize and celebrate excellence across the live camming industry right now?

For Chaturbate, it all goes back to community. We’re always thrilled to see live cam creators represented at other industry shows, but there’s something truly special about sponsoring the awards show that is wholly devoted to the adult sector we call home—and have the privilege of sharing with so many talented individuals. The Live Cam Awards is the first in its class—the first awards show made to recognize live cam creators. This is a legacy we are honored to be part of—and one that we want to help endure.

Online adult creators face untold stigma and often a sense that their work isn’t valuable because of all the harmful myths out there—“There are so many of you” or “Anyone could do that.” But we know the truth—and that’s why we’re stepping up to sponsor the show and bring the community together to elevate and uplift the creators whose work deserves to be seen and celebrated. As a company, we want to be a force for good, always. It’s truly an honor to cheer on all the nominees and recognize all the creativity, hard work, and dedication of creators broadcasting live around the world.

Chaturbate is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year with the launch of the CB15 campaign. Looking back over the past decade and a half, what have been the most significant milestones or moments that define the company’s journey, and how has the platform evolved from its early days?

One of the defining principles that shaped Chaturbate from our earliest days was recognizing the power of creators which ultimately positioned us to help pioneer what is now known as the creator economy.

To that end, we were the first streaming platform to allow our creators to also be affiliates. This combination of streaming, content, and affiliate links adds up: our creators receive closer to an 80% payout, making Chaturbate one of the highest-paying streaming companies out there. Over the years, we have noticed plenty of imitators, but we take that in stride because it means the world to us to set a higher bar for how adult creators are treated by platforms.

Further, in setting higher standards for payouts and seeing the unlimited potential of creators, we’re thrilled to keep building on our legacy of creating community. Chaturbate has always hosted Community Appreciation Dinners at expos and conferences. It’s something our creators genuinely look forward to, because they can relax without being “on” in front of fans and focus on actually making meaningful connections with colleagues. Being an online adult creator is often lonely—we hear this all the time in the industry—so as a company, we want to actually do things to address the real issues facing creators today.

We want to give the already talented individuals who choose to stream with us as many opportunities and tools as possible to achieve success on their terms. Feeling valued for your work, and experiencing a sense of belonging and community are just as integral to that success as business education workshops, professional panels, or wellness activities.

The CB15 campaign includes a refreshed brand identity and a full year of platform updates shaped by community feedback. What was the core vision behind this anniversary initiative, and what do you ultimately hope to achieve for both creators and viewers by the end of the year?

The vision behind CB15 was to celebrate our creators and users, show our gratitude to the community that continues to grow alongside Chaturbate, and give them the first look at the initiatives shaping our next chapter of innovation. Our new logo and branding, along with the many feature changes on the horizon, reflects that continued evolution. We’re building on the community and experiences that have historically defined Chaturbate, while creating new ways for people to engage and grow with us. As such, CB15’s lunch and learn sessions were not just about previewing new features; they also provided a forum for community members to share their concerns and feedback directly with our team.

For those who could not make the in-person function, we also livestreamed several CB15 workshops. At the peak of the event, we had over 9,000 logged in viewers. We are always looking for ways to give our creators more value for their time, and support them in building their business. Beyond the CB15 educational workshops that covered everything from collabs to taxes, we also provided complimentary professional photoshoots—including hair and makeup services. We also love to promote wellness as a matter of course (our annual Health and Wellness Day event is coming up soon), so adding in events like yoga and morning fitness to the CB15 schedule was a no-brainer.

At the end of this year—and every year—we want to be the best platform for creators to thrive as digital entrepreneurs within a supportive community, and the platform that users trust to explore and cultivate their fantasies.

One of the biggest new features is Portrait Mode for mobile streaming, along with Premium Private Shows (higher fixed rates with spies disabled) and Spy Show Discounts for Fan Club members. What inspired these specific innovations, and how do they give models more control and better earning potential?

Portrait mode for mobile makes it easier for creators to stream and stand out no matter what equipment they have. It seems like a small thing, but it enhances the platform experience as more users are using mobile. Anyone can grow into a digital entrepreneur on Chaturbate—and prospective creators don’t need to invest in expensive equipment to get started.

Inspired by both creator and user feedback, Premium Private Shows have allowed us to enhance both the interface and experience. For users, premium private allows them to have the most exclusive possible experience. For creators, offering premium private shows opens up a greater level of personalized earning potential; and since everything is baked into the new interface, they can set the rate and go without worrying about manually disabling spy shows or changing any other settings.

From the creator side, features like enhanced monetization tools, improved visibility, and the new app directory seem designed to help models grow their audiences and businesses. How are these updates already impacting the day-to-day experience and income for performers on Chaturbate?

Chaturbate’s new app directory means creators can spend less time figuring out which tools they need and more time putting those tools to work to grow engagement and earnings. For newbies, this means you can hit the ground running. We love offering such an expansive app ecosystem, but realize having so many options can be overwhelming. The new app directory improves accessibility all around. P.S. This is only the beginning of our app ecosystem innovations…Stay tuned!

On the member/viewer side, updates like the new UI (including Dark Mode), smarter discovery tools, and deeper connection features aim to combat viewer fatigue and create more engaging experiences. How do these changes make the platform more enjoyable and interactive for fans?

While the desktop version has offered dark mode for quite some time, mobile dark mode was a highly anticipated and requested new feature. Dark mode allows our users to enjoy Chaturbate longer with less potential eye strain, and also helps to improve battery life on mobile devices. Users also love that mobile dark mode allows for greater discretion and accessibility.

Further, we’ve been investing heavily into creating enhanced search and discovery tools on the platform. Our new AI-powered search allows users to find activities happening in real time vs. just relying on room tags or descriptions. For creators, this gets their room in front of audience members who are actively seeking out that kind of content, and are therefore more likely to engage and spend.

Safety has been a major focus in the recent upgrades, including tools like ChaturSafe for real-time chat moderation. What new safety measures have been rolled out as part of CB15, and how is Chaturbate continuing to protect both models and members while fostering a positive community?

ChaturSafe gives creators a much greater level of control over what is allowed in their chat—and it’s already making a positive impact. Creators can moderate as much or as little as they wish—even with emoticons. Our new live chat translation feature also works with ChaturSafe, so even with certain language barriers in play, there’s no compromising our creators’ safety and sense of well-being when they stream. This also makes fans happy too, because no one wants to contend with spammers or abusive content when they’re here to enjoy their time with their favorite creator.

Trusted Viewer is an additional upgrade to ChaturSafe that was directly requested by creators. It allows them to make certain moderation exceptions for viewers that they trust while still running their chosen safety filters on their general chat.

As part of the 15-year celebrations, Chaturbate hosted an in-person Creators Retreat in Scottsdale. Why was direct, face-to-face engagement with top creators so important during this milestone, and what insights did the team gain from those conversations?

It truly meant the world to us to share this milestone anniversary with people who have directly helped make Chaturbate what it is today—and shape where we’re going next. Due to covid, we could only celebrate our ten-year anniversary virtually, so finally having the opportunity to gather in-person as a community for this milestone was something we wanted to make the most out of. The event was entirely free to all creators attending—we covered food, hotel, wellness, and workshops. It was incredible to bring together creators from across the country and around the world to connect, learn, recharge, and celebrate together.

Even though we obviously love livestreaming around here, it was invaluable for our team to be able to sit face-to-face with the creators who trust us with their livelihood, and to hear their questions, concerns, and unfiltered feedback. As such, I’m not at liberty to spill those details—but let’s just say you’ll be seeing the results of many of those conversations on the platform very soon.

Trusted Viewer is an additional upgrade to ChaturSafe that was directly requested by creators. It allows them to make certain moderation exceptions for viewers that they trust while still running their chosen safety filters on their general chat.