Twitch
Twitch
Pxie accuses Destiny of non-consensually sharing photos
M Alzamora
Steven “Destiny” Bonnell II may have found himself in serious trouble if he is guilty of sharing non-consensual photos of streamer Pxie. Destiny has gained traction over the years as both a political and gaming streamer. He has accounts on YouTube and Kick as well as his own popular podcast. Fans may know him equally for his interviews with important liberal political figures as well as his beef with other …
Twitch
CottontailVA receives her first Twitch ban, and here’s why
M Alzamora
Vtuber and voice actress CottontailVA has received her first Twitch ban after half a decade of streaming, much to her loyal fans’ chagrin. CottontailVA first debuted in November 2020 as a “Just Chatting” streamer on Twitch. Fans follow her to watch a collection of variety and horror games, her Confessional Booth, and her consistent engagement with her chat. In more recent years, CottontailVA has expanded into more NSFW content as …
Twitch
PirateSoftware responds to removal from WoW OnlyFangs guild
M Alzamora
After being kicked from the popular OnlyFangs streamers guild earlier this week, Jason “PirateSoftware” Thor Hall has pledged to quit hardcore WoW altogether. The streaming world is no stranger to controversy and drama, but World of Warcraft collaborations seem to be taking center stage. Notably, the WoW hardcore OnlyFangs guild has had a number of player removals, cheating scandals, and more. The latest casualty of the group was PirateSoftware, kicked …
Twitch
Asmongold involved in Elon Musk drama after mocked POE2 run
M Alzamora
In the latest drama to hit the streaming community, Zack “Asmongold” Hoyt is now entering an argument with X’s main man, Elon Musk. Twitch streamer Asmongold is no stranger to controversy. From issues with the FBI to multiple Twitch bans, he always seems to find a way to stay relevant in the public eye. Most recently, his commentary on Elon Musk’s gaming performance in Path of Exile 2 may have …
Twitch
What is the Flask of Petrification in WoW Classic hardcore?
Hannan Mundia
Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp secured the Flask of Petrification for OnlyFangs while playing WoW Classic hardcore and it has many fans feeling divided. So what exactly is the Flask of Petrification, and why is it so divisive in World of Warcraft’s hardcore mode? The OnlyFangs World of Warcraft guild has created much content for fans to enjoy during its hardcore run. From Thomas “Sodapoppin” Chance Morris losing his max-level character to …
Twitch
Everything to know about shroud’s fragathon, how long will it last
Hannan Mundia
Michael “shroud” Grzesiek has announced his special fragathon stream marathon, but what is it and how long will it last? Here’s everything you need to know. shroud is considered among the world’s best and most popular content creators in the world of FPS games. He was a professional CSGO player and has also played Valorant at its highest levels, but he now opts to stream full-time. With multiple streamer-related awards …
Twitch
New OnlyFangs drama between Jesse and Pokelawls explained
Hannan Mundia
Jesse “JesseSMFI” Terävä was kicked from World of Warcraft Classic hardcore super guild OnlyFangs, and fans were left to wonder whether it’s due to his beef with Georgie “Pokelawls” Karam. World of Warcraft may be more relevant than ever today, largely thanks to a group of big content creators raiding together in a guild called OnlyFangs. Comprised of such massive creators as Tyler “Tyler1” and Pokelawls, the group has generated …
Twitch
NymN and Yabbe announce new engagement to start the new year
Hannan Mundia
Twitch streamers Elias “NymN” Mlayeh and Yabbe have announced their new engagement during their New Year’s celebration marathon stream. NymN and Yabbe are among the many streamer couples with their own individual fan bases. From NymN’s love for gacha games, cooking streams, and meme-related content to Yabbe’s many controversies and gaming streams, both streamers have built their respective audiences by taking different paths. But now, NymN and Yabbe’s audience may …
Valkyrae YouTube contract ends, is she moving to Twitch?
gabhernandez
Twitch
With Valkyrae’s five-year YouTube contract ended, fans may wonder what’s next for the streamer and whether she’ll now move to popular streaming platform Twitch full-time. Rachel “Valkyrae” Marie Hofstetter is one of the biggest names in the livestreaming scene. She’s known primarily for working with fellow streamers such as Imane “Pokimane” Anys, and for being the co-owner of the gaming organization 100 Thieves. The streamer left Twitch to exclusively stream …
Mooda got his third ban from Twitch, here’s why
William Davis
Twitch
Controversial streamer Mooda, who primarily streams shooter games like Valorant and Fortnite, has been banned on Twitch for the third time. Mooda has been streaming for around two years. He primarily focused on high-level Valorant streams while mixing it up with Just Chatting, Fortnite, and other non-shooter games. His Twitch streams picked up steam starting in mid-2024, though more for his confrontational personality than anything else. These antics make his …
Sanchovies got his fifth Twitch ban, here’s why
William Davis
Twitch
Karim “Sanchovies” Dodson just got banned from Twitch for the fifth time. The Canadian streamer Sanchovies is a League of Legends esports player and streamer who started his career by playing the MOBA. Other than his gameplay, the streamer is famous for his controversial comments. For instance, he infamously called Americans “fat pieces of bacon” in a stream, which he jokingly claims got him his third ban. The streamer has …
The Kai Cenat and xQc drama explained
gabhernandez
Twitch
After the Canadian streamer’s controversial comments, Kai Cenat fires back at Félix “xQc” Lengyel. Twitch is no stranger to drama, especially in 2024. From the platform itself coming under fire for alleged bigotry at the highest levels to controversial bans, the streaming world can’t seem to catch a break. Through all the drama, 2024 remained a milestone year for content creators. During Mafiathon 2, Kai reclaimed his throne as the …
Why fans are blasting Twitch over an AI emote
William Davis
Twitch
Streaming platform Twitch is now under fire after fans have accused its new Christmas emote of being created with AI. Emotes are integral to the Twitch experience. Harkening back to the Justin.tv days, the feature allows fans to express themselves across language barriers using tiny in-chat images. Fans have pushed the format to its limit, petitioning Twitch to create new emotes and creating browser extensions to generate their own. While …
Onlyfangs member Burn banned for ERP, here’s what he did
William Davis
Twitch
Onlyfangs has once again hit a snag as fan-favorite Brandon “Burn” Johnson has been banned from the platform. From its initial surprise return to Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp showing off his skills, Twitch watchers have been loving the return of Onlyfangs. It’s a chance to see dozens of streamers band together, prompting surprise crossovers and collaborations. However, it also encouraged streamers to see just how much they can get away with. …
Ludwig is back on Twitch, here’s how to watch
William Davis
Twitch
After switching from Twitch to YouTube and maintaining his superstar stream status, Ludwig Ahgren is once again returning to where it all began. Ludwig’s contract with YouTube is ending on November 30, 2024, and the streaming star has already revealed his plans for future platforms. The former Super Smash Bros Melee commentator will be returning to Twitch, but the transition won’t be as simple as fans expect. He has already …
Is IShowSpeed heading to Africa? What we know
William Davis
Twitch
Darren “Jason “IShowSpeed” Watkins Jr. is known for his globetrotting streams, and Africa looks like it’s next on the list. IShowSpeed is one of the most well-traveled streamers on YouTube. He’s held massive travel streams in Japan, Australia, the Philippines, and more, interacting with fans across the globe to sometimes disastrous results. Now, the streaming phenom has confirmed that a new trip is in the works, and it will be …
How to watch Dr DisRespect’s debut stream on Rumble
William Davis
Twitch
Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm IV isn’t done yet, and the disgraced streamer has picked Rumble as his new platform of choice. On November 22, 2024, Dr DisRespect ended his Arena Breakout Infinite stream with no new announcements for his next appearance. After a few days of silence, he returned with an announcement for a platform change. The most controversial name in streaming will be moving from YouTube to rising platform …
How to get $1,000 a month for streaming on Parti
William Davis
Twitch
Parti is looking to enter the streaming world in a big way, and nearly anyone can apply for a $1,000 a month streaming deal. With Twitch, YouTube, Kick, and now Rumble all in the fray, new streamers are flush with choice for platforms. However, another new company is looking to disrupt the ecosystem by poaching small streamers instead of icons. The website is currently flaunting monthly $1,000 checks to brand-new …
Here are the allegations against Tectone and his response
Steven Rondina
Twitch
John “Tectone” Robertson is pushing back against apparent allegations of sexual and emotional abuse from his former girlfriend, cosplayer Pinkchyu. Tectone, by his own admission, is a streamer who seeks drama. If it pops up naturally, he’ll try to attach himself to it, as seen with the ban of Frogan. If there isn’t anything happening, he’ll invent it, as seen when he made a series of anti-LGBT comments to defend …
All the members of Onlyfangs, the Twitch WoW superguild
William Davis
Twitch
Fans of both World of Warcraft and Twitch are in for a treat, as Onlyfangs is back with more members than ever. WoW and Twitch have always gone hand-in-hand, and after a first attempt in 2022, a massive group of streamers have returned to the game to make a run at the raids. The newest incarnation of Onlyfangs has a ton of members, which includes some of the biggest streamers …
Twitch is the largest of all the major livestreaming platforms in and around the gaming world, but it wasn’t always that way. Th platform’s history dates back over many years and to a form of the service that had little to do with gaming. So how did it arrive to the top of the gaming marketplace from those humble beginnings?
Twitch transcends justin.tv, is acquired by Amazon
Twitch was originally born out of justin.tv, an early livestreaming website that focus more on general lifestyle streaming than on any one particular niche, gaming included. justin.tv, named after co-founder Justin Kan, was launched in 2007 and went on to feature multiple categories of streaming options. Among these was gaming, a category which quickly outpaced the growth of platform’s other categories.
Responding to this growth, justin.tv spun out its gaming section in 2011 into a new service called Twitch.tv, and that is the true starting point of Twitch as it exists today.
It would still be some time before Twitch would resemble its modern-day operation. The biggest move towards that progression came in 2014, when the streaming platform was purchased for just shy of $1 billion in cash by services and technology giant Amazon. That move transitioned the company being a private operation largely funded by private investment and internal revenues to one of many arms of one of the world’s largest and richest companies.
Twitch dominates gaming livestreaming
The growth of Twitch largely coincided with the growth of livestreaming the world over, and gaming was a key driver of that growth as audiences flocked in droves to watch charismatic personalities play through their favorite games both new and old. Some of those personalities would become so popular that they would rival mainstream celebrities in notoriety with younger audiences, from Tyler “Ninja” Blevins to Imane “Pokimane” Anys.
Some of those personalities would be poached by rival streaming platforms that cropped up in response to the runaway popularity of Twitch. Microsoft’s Mixer and YouTube’s YouTube Gaming both signed streamers with massive audiences to exclusive streaming deals via big-money contracts. But Twitch proved resilient; no matter how popular the streamers were when they were signed away, someone else seemed prime to fill their spot. Twitch had become more than just a vehicle through which popular personalities could stream. It was itself a destination for its audience.
Twitch does still continue to compete with rival platforms. Kick is perhaps its biggest competition today, offering generous
subscription revenue splits
in an effort to sway streamers away from Twitch. But Amazon’s platform remains the most popular.
Twitch finds controversy over moderation, censorship
Given the nature of the Twitch platform, one that is entirely reliant on user-generated content, it should come as no surprise that moderation and censorship have long been hot topics of conversation. Consistency, or lack thereof, is often cited as Twitch’s biggest issue as its moderation team struggles to pass judgments across a litany of streamers producing a great variety of content.
Those content types have only grown over time. While Twitch found massive popularity by moving away from the greater variety of justin.tv and focusing specifically on gaming, the platform has ironically pushed back into other categories in more recent years, attempting to find additional growth by emphasizing the streaming of art, music, and its popular “just chatting” content that sees streamers talking directly to their audience without any particular activity driving their engagement.
But while Twitch is now a lightning rod for controversy and discussion given its great size and breadth, that controversy has shown no real risk to lessening its grip on the livestreaming industry. Twitch has become the dominant name in its category, and with its biggest streamers continuing to
set new records, all signs point to that dominance continuing for the foreseeable future.
