Kick co-owner explains KPP pay changes for some streamers
Adin Ross’ claims of reduced pay at Kick have sparked a chain reaction of streamers reporting changes in their revenue from KPP. Now, Kick co-owner Ed Craven has come forward with a clarification on what’s really happening.
Kick has long been known for offering major payouts compared to streaming rivals like Twitch, and that reputation has been built mainly on its generous 95-5 revenue split for subscriptions. Streamers like Zack “Asmongold” Hoyt have repeatedly praised the platform for how fairly it compensates creators. But Kick star Adin Ross recently went on a rant claiming that Kick had cut down his KPP earnings after he switched sponsors, suggesting a possible conflict between his partnership and the platform’s payout structure.
His clip quickly went viral, and a few more streamers cane forward with the similar claims. Now, Ed Craven has explained the Kick KPP changes and exactly why streamers are finding themselves affected.
Did Kick change KPP pay?
Kick hasn’t actually changed how the KPP system functions or how it fundamentally pays. What it has done, however, is overhaul its view count metrics, a move that’s led to reduced payouts for some creators who have lower engagement or had previously inflated their viewership numbers.
During a livestream with Kick streamer Paul “IcePoseidon” Denino, Kick co-owner Ed Craven clarified that streamers with inflated view counts will now see reduced KPP payouts as the streaming platform is better able to track on-platform engagement. He explained that Kick’s upgraded view count system can detect streams opened across multiple tabs or left running by inactive users attempting to boost numbers. The new system also tracks emote spam, repeated messages, and mismatches between viewer counts and actual chat engagement to identify inauthentic activity.
Cases of artificial views will now be detected automatically, and those results will ultimately be reflected in the partnership program.
Despite Craven’s attempted clarification, the Kick co-owner still faced significant backlash from some in the community, prompting him to issue a formal statement on X.
Ed Craven responds to KPP criticism. Image credits: Ed Craven
The Kick co-owner explained that the KPP system, first introduced in 2024, is now being refined to better ensure that payouts are distributed more accurately. He noted that streamers with real audiences shouldn’t see any meaningful drop in their earnings. This was later confirmed by Asmongold, who shared his stream analytics showing that his KPP remained largely unaffected despite his multistreaming, which already cuts his overall Kick payout by 50%.
While Asmongold’s KPP remains same, Adin Ross revealed that his monthly payout has dropped to $243,000 from over a million dollars back in July. Notably, Adin announced his a new betting partnership in September, a timing that he had put forward as an explanation for his reduced payouts.
Adin Ross reacted to Ed Craven’s statement by calling for a more transparent tier-based KPP system that better rewards streamers.
Adin Ross responds to Ed Craven. Image credit: Adin Ross on X
According to Ross, botted views exist across every major streaming platform, including on Kick, and creators producing good content deserve to be rewarded regardless. He argued that external factors unrelated to Kick’s platform or metrics shouldn’t affect a streamer’s KPP, insisting that payouts should reflect content quality rather than technical discrepancies.
Whether Kick follows his advice remains to be seen, especially now that Adin has threatened shifting his biggest streams to Twitch. After admitting he doesn’t actually own a stake in Kick despite earlier claims of equity, it’s even less probable that the platform will take his criticism to heart.
Featured image credit: Kick
Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.
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