Webtoon's termination of the Creator Rewards Program is putting many creators, who are already finding it challenging to earn a fair wage in the industry, in a financial crisis.
A notice was sent by Webtoon, notifying its CANVAS Creators that the Creator Rewards Program will end in January 2023. A "tipping system" will replace the program, but the platform did not divulge details as to when they would implement the system or what it would look like, leaving many creators in a state of financial limbo. The announcement was met with anger and frustration by many creators whose income largely comes from the program.
Webtoon established the Creator Rewards Program in 2018 "to supplement [their] newly established Ad Revenue Sharing Program." In order to qualify for the program, the creators' series had to be approved for the Ad Revenue Sharing Program and must update at least once a month. The rewards are paid based on the number of global views that a series receives in a month, with $100 credited at 40,000 views and the highest at $1,000 for 1.5 million views. During the pandemic, Webtoon extended the program and was active -- until now. According to creators, the Rewards Program was more reliable than the Ad Revenue program. For some, like Obelis, who wrote The Recloseted Lesbian, the loss of the program means losing around $800 to $1,000 a month.
The other avenue for Webtoon creators is through the Ad Revenue Sharing Program. However, the downside to this program is that creators generate revenue from ad displays on the series. In December 2020, Webtoon paid creators 100% of the net revenue due to the financial hardships many creators experienced during the pandemic. The net revenue support reverted to its original 50% in July 2021. Creators on Webtoon allegedly do not have a line of sight as to how well their webcomic is performing. In September, Webtoon posted an announcement promising more transparency for their ORIGINALS Creators on the performance of their works. As of this article's publication, this only applies to ORIGINALS and not Canvas Creators.
Many Creators Are Moving On
Many Webtoon creators are considering moving to other platforms, such as GlobalComix and Tapas. GlobalComix uses a paywall system for their works where readers will need to purchase reading credits for certain series, with the platform taking around 25 to 35 percent of the money. Creators can also sell their comics on the platform. As for Tapas, the platform pays its creators through the Ad Revenue and Support programs. Tapas takes approximately 30% of ad revenue with the qualification that creators must have a minimum of 100 subscribers in order to activate the program. The Support program comes in the form of 'Ink,' where readers can directly support the creators by sending them Ink as soon as the creator hits 250 subscribers. 100% goes to creators after fees from third parties are collected.
According to Webtoon, the platform has paid its English-language creators over $27 million since 2020. Webtoon has yet to reveal what its tipping system will look like or the program's launch date.
Source: Twitter