Kick
Slots
Donut Gaming names Trainwreckstv as co-owner
Fariha Bhatti
Donut Gaming has named Trainwreckstv co-owner, joining fellow streamer Yassuo on the platform to bring high-impact slot games to Stake users. Trainwreckstv has become synonymous with gambling on Kick, even though his streaming roots run deep in gaming. In a short time, the streamer has earned the trust of online gamblers, becoming the go-to streamer for new bettors trying their luck at online slots. Now, he’s branching out further by …
Valorant
Trainwreckstv’s Valorant ban has xQc and Riot Games quarrelling
Hannan Mundia
The popular Kick streamer Trainwreckstv has received a 30-day ban on Valorant for apparently boosting despite playing on his own account, sparking heated discourse in the community. The terms of service of online competitive games are usually shakily implemented. In particular, Riot Games is known for only occasionally giving players any punishment for actions such as boosting and smurfing. The primary exceptions to this matter are popular streamers who catch …
Twitch
PUBG announces $100,000 Streamer Challenge for PAYDAY mode
Khizar Mundia
PUBG is hosting a limited-time challenge where streamers can compete in PAYDAY mode for a chance to win a share of the $100,000 prize money. PUBG’s latest gameplay mode is introducing a new direction for the game, as the battle royale will now feature a heist mode. This highlights Krafton’s desire to give its players more in terms of varied content. PUBG’s collaboration will also feature a tournament where streamers …
Big Wins
Wild Storm bonus run turns into huge payout for Trainwreckstv
Fariha Bhatti
Trainwreckstv continued his massive run on Stake after hitting a nearly $6 million bonus round win on Wild Storm. Wins of this scale are not commonplace in online slots, but somehow, they’ve become routine for Trainwreckstv. Fresh off a $15 million hit on Valhalla 1000 that pulled him out of a deep slump, the streamer hasn’t slowed down since. In the days following that win, he’s stacked multiple other multi-million-dollar hits, …
Kick
Who is Trainwreckstv? Girlfriend, net worth, and more
Fariha Bhatti
Over his decade-long streaming career, Tyler “Trainwreckstv” Niknam has dipped his toes into several areas of content creation, which goes a long way in explaining his diverse fanbase. Here’s everything you need to know about Trainwreckstv and his streaming journey to date. Trainwreckstv is often regarded as the face of Kick, and for good reason. Despite his recent fallout with Stake, his contribution to the platform’s growth is undeniable, something …
Kick
What is Clavicular’s Looksmaxxing and why is everyone talking about it?
Fariha Bhatti
You’d think Braden “Clavicular” Peters coined the term Looksmaxxing, but long before it went viral, people were already chasing the same idea. Here’s a look at what it means to Looksmaxx. The streaming world has produced its share of viral trends, but Looksmaxxing might be the most significant one to cross over into the mainstream. The term traces its roots back to around 2010, originating in niche online communities. It …
Big Wins
Trainwreckstv’s advice leads TimTheTatman to a max win on The Luxe
Fariha Bhatti
TimTheTatman may not be Roobet’s most seasoned gambler, but taking advice from Trainwreckstv proved to be the right call — his words of wisdom helped him land The Luxe’s $100,000 max win. TimTheTatman is popular for his gaming streams, specifically COD. But, streamer’s recent venture with Roobet has been equally popular among fans who regularly tune into his gambling streams on Kick. The streamer has landed some notable wins on …
Kick
Who Is xQc, and How Did He Get So Big?
Khizar Mundia
Félix “xQc” Lengyel is one of the most prominent gaming streamers, who is widely recognized by his viral reaction clips — but who exactly is he, and what are the reasons behind his rapid growth in recent years? xQc is a massively popular streamer who is active on Kick, and offers his opinions about everything, which he isn’t shy about sharing. These opinions and real takes make him relatable, which …
Did iShowSpeed really get Guadeloupean citizenship?
Khizar Mundia
Twitch
Social media is ablaze with claims that Darren “iShowSpeed” Watkins Jr. was granted a Guadeloupean citizenship by the country’s Vice President — here are all the details. iShowSpeed’s Caribbean Tour is going strong, with the streamer already making viral content. Clips of the American handing out food were one of the first things that got real traction. He then claimed to be the first streamer to livestream underwater, and showed …
Here’s how to start livestreaming on X
Khizar Mundia
Casino Streamers
X is making a major move into livestreaming, with Head of Product Nikita Bier pushing for creators to broadcast their content on the platform. Here is how streamers can go live on X — and what is means for the future of the platform. Nikita Bier has recently highlighted X’s viral potential in order to attract streamers. Nicolas “Sneako” Balinthazy became one of the first to listen to Bier and …
Nick White shows how much smaller Kick creators can make
Khizar Mundia
Kick
Kick streamer Nick White is a relatively smaller creator, but he highlighted in a recent stream how well the platform pays him. Nick White is a creator that first came to prominence in 2024, gaining a reputation for entertaining JustChatting and reaction streams. He also faced a Kick ban for livestreaming how easy it is to code viewbots. The streamer has been creating regular content on Kick since his return, …
How to go live on Kick using just your phone
Fariha Bhatti
Kick
Kick is making IRL streaming even simpler by letting creators go live directly from their phones. With the newly-launched Kick GO Live app, starting a face-cam stream takes just a few steps. Mobile streaming is by no means a revolutionary idea. In fact, creators could already stream from their phones on Kick, but it was a tedious process. Without a third-party app and a dozen hoops to jump through, streaming …
Are WestCol and Milica in a relationship? Here’s what we know
Khizar Mundia
Kick
Luis “WestCol” Fernando Villa Álvarez and Micaela “Milica” Ybañez are in the limelight following some private pictures and a video being leaked online, leading to fans speculating that the two may be in a secret relationship. WestCol is one of the top Kick streamers, known for his Stream Fighters events, which pull in a large number of viewers. Milica is an Argentine streamer and influencer, known for IRL content and …
How X is seemingly reshaping monetization to focus on livestreaming
Khizar Mundia
Twitch
X Head of Product, Nikita Bier, has recently been pushing creators to multistream, and new reports suggest the platform will rework monetization for original livestream content. The recent drama in the streaming space surprisingly involved IRL YouTuber Darren “iShowSpeed” Watkin Jr. and Nikita Bier. iShowSpeed requested X not to remove its community, but this led to Bier apparently talking down to the streamer, and it became a whole controversy. Nikita …
Trainwreckstv hits a max win on Waylanders Forge
Fariha Bhatti
Big Wins
Trainwreckstv’s most recent win on Waylanders Forge came out of nowhere, leaving fans impressed at his ability to walk away with over $6 million from a single spin while deep in a losing session. After spending months in a slump, Trainwreckstv can’t stop hitting one big win after another. The streamer recently landed one of the biggest payouts seen on Kick while playing Valhalla 1000, and his $15 million win …
Who is Chudthebuilder, and why did Kick ban him permanently?
Fariha Bhatti
Kick
Kick streamer Dalton ‘Chudthebuilder’ Eatherly, who has long branded himself a free-speech advocate, has been permanently banned from the Kick platform following a series of incidents where he used racial slurs during live streams. Chudthebuilder initially received a three-day ban from Kick on April 26, which meant he would be back after a brief break. However, the streamer’s return is now in question because Kick has taken further action against …
Trainwreckstv hits historic max win on Valhalla 1000
Fariha Bhatti
Big Wins
We have seen plenty of big wins from streamers on Kick, but Trainwreckstv’s recent $15 million payout on Valhalla 1000 may be the largest a single slot bonus round has delivered in recent memory. Trainwreckstv’s recent gambling slump is no longer a secret as the streamer has gone on record more than once to vent about his losses. In the weeks leading up to this session, he had clawed back …
Kick launches new Kick GO Live app for creators, here’s how it works
Khizar Mundia
Kick
There have been rumors and even leaks about a new Kick streaming app, and the platform has now launched it in the form of Kick GO Live. Livestreaming platform Kick became hugely popular in a short period of time, but there was a common complaint many creators had. Streamers complained that Kick’s mobile app isn’t good, and this was especially an issue among IRL streamers. Kick co-founder Eddie Craven had …
Eddie Craven talks Kick gambling content and viewbotting crackdown
Khizar Mundia
Kick
Kick co-founder Eddie Craven discussed many things in a recent stream, with gambling incentives being stopped and action against viewbotting the two headline-grabbing revelations. As soon as livestreaming platform Kick launched, it became famous for two things: its massive payout and the large influx of gambling creators. Many speculated that because the platform co-founders also jointly owned Stake Casino, it made sense. Now, Eddie Craven has revealed the surprising reason …
Adin Ross hits another milestone by reaching 2 million Kick followers
Khizar Mundia
Kick
Adin Ross is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern era streaming after moving to Kick following a permanent Twitch ban — and he has now hit 2 million followers on the Stake-owned platform. Kick streamer Adin Ross needs no introduction, whether it be his collaborations with United States President Donald Trump or his gambling streams, the creator manages to draw a large audience. He has also been …
Since its initial announcement in 2022, Kick has quickly becoming one of the biggest streaming platforms on the planet. Its notoriety is a product a variety of successes and controversies attached to the platform, and through it all, one thing has been firmly established: Kick is here to stay in the streaming space, and other platforms will have to continue contending with it as a result.
When was Kick launched?
Kick was originally brought about in October 2022, though the streaming platform didn’t go live as its users recognize today until December 2022, a short time later. The streaming platform immediately made a splash as a prominent alternative to popular competitors of the day, most especially Amazon-owned streaming platform Twitch.
Kick was only the latest platform to make such an effort. YouTube Gaming had launched as an arm of the popular video hosting website YouTube in 2015 with similar intentions. One year later, technology giant Microsoft launched its own streaming platform, Mixer, as an entry into the growing competition.
Both YouTube Gaming and Mixer made waves in the livestreaming space by signing content creators to exclusivity contracts worth big money, intended to carve chunks of audience away from Twitch. But YouTube Gaming folded in 2019, and Mixer followed it just one year later. Twitch was again left relatively unchallenged.
That changed when Kick was announced in 2022. Funded by gambling giant
Stake, Kick was the next platform in line to challenge Twitch’s dominance in the streaming space. And the new platform had a plan for that competition.
Kick offers better deals to streamers
Seeking to make its own mark in the streaming world, Kick would go on to announce a very generous 95/5 split of
channel subscription revenue
towards streamers. This was a major change relative to the established norm, as Twitch was known for taking significant cuts of any revenue its streamers managed to create. By offering so much better a percentage, Kick instantly made itself an attractive destination for many streamers whether they were new to content creation or established names.
Established names were also central to Kick’s strategy. In 2023, the platform’s first full year of formal operations, Kick signed deals with some of the biggest content creators associated with Twitch. These deals were made with a broad variety of streamers who appealed to different audiences.
Notable names included former Overwatch pro Felix “xQc” Lengyel, world-ranked chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, popular content creator Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa, Fortnite pro and former 100 Thieves streamer Nick “Nickmercs” Kolcheff, and others.
Kick was able to support itself through these aggressive signings and generous revenue splits in large part because the platform is not required by its owners at Stake to be profitable. Rather, Kick is operated as a loss leader, a project that operates at a deficit but is relied on for its community outreach and overall marketing potential.
Looser moderation draws some streamers, users to Kick
Kick has also established a reputation for having looser moderation than that of rival platform Twitch. While Twitch has often gotten into hot water for its inconsistent moderation policies regarding its streamers, Kick sought to lower the moderation barrier and allow content creators more freedom to express themselves.
This led to the migration of some popular streamers who had fallen out of favor with Twitch, including Adin Ross and Steven “Destiny” Bonnell.
While this broader freedom has been welcomed by some streamers and their fans, others in the streaming community have criticized Kick for some of the content allowed on the platform. This has led to multiple reevaluations and clarifications on the part of Kick, though it continues to be a more open platform in its moderating policies than does Twitch.
Kick has also separated itself by being welcoming of
gambling and betting streams
so long as the games are played in regions in which they’re legally allowed. The platform has made additional inroads internationally and with non-English -language streams. Some of the platform’s most popular content creators, including Luis “Westcol” Alvarez, stream in Spanish or other languages besides English, and the platform has seen significant growth in Latin America and Middle Eastern regions.
Now multiple years into its operation, Kick has made it clear that the platform is in it for the long haul, and its growing number of streamers and overall users speak to that reality.
