X Retires Revenue Sharing, Launches Original Content Rewards
X is tearing up its creator payout playbook. The platform announced this week that it's retiring its long-running Creator Revenue Sharing program and replacing it with something new called Original Content Rewards, a system built specifically to reward posts that actually bring something new to the timeline instead of recycled engagement bait.
X's Allegra Jacchia, who announced the change, said the old program's incentives had become "misaligned," pushing creators to chase payouts rather than post genuinely original work. Rather than keep patching the system with more rules, she said, X decided to start over with a program designed from day one to reward originality.
X stopped accepting new enrollments into Creator Revenue Sharing as of August 7, 2026, and the program will be fully retired on September 7, 2026. Creators already in the program aren't cut off cold turkey, though. Enrolled creators will get three final payouts, two on the usual mid- and late-August schedule, plus a last one around September 11 covering everything earned up to the cutoff.
Starting September 8, both existing Revenue Sharing participants and newcomers can apply for Original Content Rewards. Anyone not currently in the old program can actually apply right now.
So what counts as "original" in X's eyes? Per Engadget's coverage, the platform is defining it as users' own writing or reporting, photos and videos they shot themselves, or memes and graphics they actually designed. Reposting or reacting to someone else's content won't cut it on its own; creators will need to add meaningful commentary, analysis, or creative editing to earn anything from it.
Eligibility is fairly similar to before, with a few new specifics attached. Creators need to be at least 18, based in an eligible country, and hold an active Premium, Premium+, or Premium Business subscription. They also need at least 500 verified followers and 500,000 Home Timeline views from verified users over the trailing 90 days. Payouts themselves hinge on "qualified impressions," meaning views have to come from unique, paying Premium subscribers on their Home Timeline, with at least half the post visible on screen. Duplicate, fraudulent, or promoted impressions won't count toward a creator's total, and X says these requirements aren't just a one-time checkbox, creators have to keep meeting them to stay eligible for payouts.
X has tried to course-correct on creator payouts before. Back in April, the company cut payments to aggregator and clickbait accounts, only to partially walk that back after backlash from popular accounts, some of which argued the changes unfairly penalized creators with strong local followings. That episode seems to have shaped this overhaul: instead of tweaking the existing formula again, X scrapped it entirely in favor of a system built around originality from the start.
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