Kick made big waves in the streaming scene when it was initially announced as an answer to Twitch’s strict policies. Many streamers saw it as a way to do what they want on stream without consequences as Twitch continued to be condemned for inconsistent punishments and possibly playing favorites. But is Kick living up to the expectations?
Many streamers and content creators have continued to spread the narrative that Kick is dying, including
Kyedae
and Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo. Charles “MoistCr1TiKaL” White has also consistently shared videos of
Kick streamers doing deplorable activities
on stream without consequences from the platform. If you look on YouTube, it’s not hard to find videos talking about the downfall of Kick or how deplorable and toxic its streamers are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYTSPS0AplM
But is Kick actually struggling amidst all of the controversy?
Kick has continued to remain in the spotlight ever since it was revealed. Many wondered how it would do since it appeared to revolve its initial campaign around not punishing streamers for gambling and other things that Twitch has strict regulations on. Almost immediately, streamers like Adin Ross were under fire from the streaming community for their behavior on Kick, like when he showed porn to his largely young audience.
Meanwhile, the site was boasting large signings, like a $100 million contract with Felix “xQc” Lengyel and inviting over Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa. With all this money seemingly available to sign large streamers, is it possible that Kick is dying?
Twitch vs. Kick: Viewership
While Kick had a lot of hype in 2023 and is still talked about a lot in 2024, is it actually a popular site when it comes to usage?
Right now, Kick’s all-time concurrent viewership peak was a little over 1.14 million. It currently has 424,600 live viewers. This sounds pretty good but let’s compare it to Twitch, which has a record viewership of over 6.64 million and currently has 2.44 million live viewers.
Kick currently has over 3,000 live channels. Twitch has 120,500 live channels.
These numbers alone tell us that Twitch has maintained a solid amount of viewers while Kick’s numbers have not ever gotten as strong and still dwindled thereafter. Twitch also has a lot more streamers currently utilizing the platform.
But is Kick dying? I’d say no.
More than likely, Kick will never beat out Twitch due to the ongoing controversy and lack of interest in the platform from the general streaming audience. It’s possible that the quickly declining viewership and active users will also impact it financially, especially as Kick continues to make very massive deals with creators. It’s very probable that Kick won’t be able to live up to expectations and will start to fizzle out.
For now, however, Kick is doing alright enough to survive.
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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