Trainwrecks reveals why he turned down $1.2 million streaming deal

Olivia Richman Published 01/12/2019

Streamer Tyler “Trainwreckstv” Niknam’s contract with Twitch forced him to turn down a shocking $1.2 million streaming deal from another platform.

On an episode of Trainwrecks’ Scuffed podcast last week, the streamer discussed Twitch’s exclusivity policy with guests Andy Milonakis, Rod “Slasher” Breslau, and PayMoneyWubby. He decided to reveal his own experience with Twitch’s contracts, admitting he was recently unable to take a deal from a nameless Chinese company because of his contract.

“They offered me $1.2 million for a year, and they said I’m allowed to stream on Twitch while I stream there twice a week for a year,” he said.

Before he even got the sentence out, the other streamers seemed unable to hold back their shock. They started telling him to take the deal. But Trainwrecks explained that he can’t, since he’s a Twitch-exclusive streamer. Trainwrecks admitted that he thought of doing no-camera streams without telling Twitch, but it was too risky.

“I’m not going to leave Twitch for $1.2 million. That’s fucking stupid. Twitch wants to keep me exclusive but they don’t want to back me, they don’t want to give me any deals. If they aren’t going to back me, they should take the exclusivity out. If they think I’m too toxic or brand-unfriendly, if they want to ignore me as the fucking middle child they don’t like, then don’t make me exclusive,” he ranted.

Big name streamers keep leaving Twitch

Even though Trainwrecks most likely won’t be the next big Twitch personality to leave the platform, his podcast did give some insight into why other streamers may have left.

When Tyler “Ninja” Blevins first announced that he was leaving for Mixer, the streaming community was stunned. His wife later revealed that one of the reasons he left was Twitch’s restrictive contracts.

Ninja only pulled the trigger on the move due to “failed contract negotiations.” Now it seems that Ninja wasn’t the only one dealing with that frustration.

It’s unclear how much Mixer, YouTube, and Facebook Gaming have offered big names like DisguisedToast to stream exclusively on their platforms. Though streamers have packaged their jumps to platforms outside of Twitch as an effort to help them reach the next level, it’s no secret that the decisions were largely motivated by money. Exact amounts have not been revealed, though some speculate the number reaches into eight figures.

Though Trainwrecks was unable to take the deal, his dismissal of a $1.2 million contract shows that being a popular streamer on Twitch can still be incredibly lucrative. When Trainwrecks’ contract with Twitch is up next year, it’s unclear what his next move will be.

It won’t be surprising at this point to see him among the many leaving Twitch behind.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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