Twitch
Twitch
Where will LeBron James stream?
Olivia Richman
NBA star LeBron James is thinking of streaming Madden, but where will he broadcast his content? The top streaming platforms are hoping it will be them. LeBron James is considered one of the best basketball players of all time and has a ton of fans across the world. On Twitter, LeBron said that he’s been thinking of live streaming while playing Madden but questioned which streaming platform he should pick …
Twitch
Influencer Mama Boy arrested, facing rape charges
Olivia Richman
A Korean YouTuber, Seo Won Joeng, was arrested on sexual assault charges and fans have been left devastated. Seo Won Joeng, who is known online as ox_zung or Mama Boy, has been arrested after it was reported that he and another man sexually assaulted an intoxicated woman. The incident took place in July, according to Korean reports, which explains why he hasn’t been online since July 22. Mama Boy has …
Twitch
Boogie2988 banned from Twitch for black bar stream gone wrong
Olivia Richman
The topless meta has been pushing Twitch’s guidelines so one streamer decided to test it to the extreme. And it didn’t go well. YouTuber Steven “Boogie2988” Williams has been banned from Twitch after showing a bit too much on a recent stream. In fact, he got completely naked. At first, Boogie had a censor bar covering his body but then he suddenly removed his pants and the bar while chanting …
Twitch
Twitch reverts “artistic nudity” rule, but topless meta still prevails
Fariha Bhatti
For primarily a gaming-centered streaming platform, Twitch runs into sexual content predicaments a bit too much. After rolling back its artistic nudity policy, the platform is now in a tough spot as artists feel left out, and OnlyFans models push the boundaries. Since Twitch has reverted its policy that allowed artists to stream the artistic procedure behind nude figures, content creators are finding new ways to “express their sexuality” or …
Twitch
xQc claims legal drama with Adept is done
Olivia Richman
Twitch star Felix “xQc” Lengyel told fans that the legal drama with ex-Samantha “Adept” Lopez is basically over. For the past few years, xQc and Adept have been dealing with a messy “divorce” of sorts, with Adept apparently trying to get money from the famous streamer and cheating accusations. It’s all been very toxic and dramatic, but it looks like the drama may be coming to an end. While streaming …
Twitch
Korean streamers concerned with Twitch shutdown
Olivia Richman
Twitch will not be in South Korea in 2024. Twitch CEO Dan Clancy recently announced that the streaming platform will no longer be operating in Korea starting on February 27, 2024, due to high costs. This decision was made after the company spent “several years” figuring out how to make it more financially viable. Apparently, the network fees in Korea are “10 times higher” than they are in many other …
Twitch
xQc’s YouTube channel is already back, but should it be?
Olivia Richman
Felix “xQc” Lengyel’s YouTube channel has returned. After his account was suddenly taken down, xQc announced that his videos and channel were back up on YouTube. According to The Juicer, all of this could have been easily avoided. xQc currently has 2.33 million subscribers on YouTube. His channel includes clips from his Twitch streams as well as his infamous reaction videos. Many believed that those very videos got his channel …
Twitch
“It’s literally gone”: xQc reacts to YouTube channel being taken down
Olivia Richman
Fans of Felix “xQc” Lengyel have been left disappointed after realizing that the streamer’s YouTube channel has been completely removed. While Alia “SSSniperwolf” Shelesh has taken the spotlight for stolen content in her reaction videos, xQc has also been consistently pulled into this controversy. Other content creators have accused xQc of not truly transforming content, making a hefty sum of money by watching other people’s videos without fully crediting them, …
“It’s insane”: xQc claims Pokimane is not getting enough flak for cookie drama
Olivia Richman
Twitch
The controversy surrounding Imane “Pokimane” Anys’ Myna cookie comment has continued. But this time, it’s fellow streamer Felix “xQc” Lengyel claiming there wasn’t enough controversy. Pokimane was recently under fire after she claimed fans who didn’t want to buy her cookies were “broke.” The Midnight Mini Cookies came out to $7 for a small bag, which had some fans skeptical of her intentions, claiming she was taking advantage of followers. …
Asmongold not impressed with Pokimane’s cookies or apology
Olivia Richman
Twitch
World of Warcraft icon Asmongold has called out Imane “Pokimane” Anys for calling fans “broke” for not wanting to purchase her new cookies. Pokimane recently launched a new snack line focused on healthy cookies, but some fans felt they were being deceived by the content creator. Not only did they seem quite similar to an already existing snack brand but it basically is $7 per small bag. She responded to …
Did Dream groom minors? Controversy explained
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Minecraft icon Clay “Dream” has responded to groomer allegations, and the internet is torn. A few days ago, a burner account on Twitter shared some screenshots of Dream allegedly flirting with a teenage girl who he knowingly knew was around 16 years old. The anonymous person claimed Dream has a “history” of being “inappropriate with minors” for years. The screenshots and videos were from Dream’s Snapchat during a time when …
Pokimane addresses Myna cookie drama, apologizes for “broke boy” comment
Fariha Bhatti
Twitch
Twitch streamer Imane “Pokimane” Anys recently announced her new snack company, Myna, revealing midnight cookies as the first product. However, the initial reaction has been mixed, and the streamer has addressed the matter. Pokimane’s Myna cookies are being marketed as a healthy alternative to regular cookies. The gluten-free midnight cookies, however, are by no means a revolutionary snack. Earlier, fans accused Pokimane of selling a drop-shipped product, which she addressed …
The Completionist accused of keeping $600K meant for charity
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Gaming YouTuber Jirard “The Completionist” Khalil has been accused of holding back more than $600K in charity funds. The Completionist is known for his deep discussions on a wide range of video games as well as raising money for charity. In fact, he founded his own organization called The Open Hand Foundation focused on funding dementia research. Now, popular YouTubers are speaking out against The Completionist for allegedly not distributing …
Pokimane introduces healthy cookie line
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Twitch star turned influencer Imane “Pokimane” Anys has announced a healthy snack brand after facing a major health scare in her life. Myna is a heathy snack brand founded by Pokimane and Darcey Macken. When it was launched, Pokimane explained that she met Macken in January and the two discussed a healthy snack line that would still be tasty while not being harmful. The first Myna product is called Midnight …
Ninja deletes Discord server following online leak by IShowSpeed
Fariha Bhatti
Twitch
Fans are calling IShowSpeed a serial leaker after he accidentally exposed Tyler “Ninja” Blevins Discord address, leading him to delete the server. IShowSpeed is no stranger to controversy but rarely feels bad after pulling off the wildest stunts. However, this time it’s different. The streamer accidentally leaked details to Ninja’s Discord, including top celebrities and Fortnite players, and he feels bad. As a result, Ninja had to delete the treasured …
Call of Duty MW3 campaign called “worst” in series
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Modern Warfare 3 is finally here — well, the campaign only. Unfortunately, the campaign has been met with a lot of backlash, including from big streamers like Charles “MoistCr1TiKaL” White. If you pre-ordered Modern Warfare 3, you were able to play the campaign starting on November 1. This was a big incentive to pre-order since developers were hinting that Makarov was returning as the main antagonist. Unfortunately, it hasn’t lived …
“They’re all gone”: FaZe Banks reveals plans for FaZe Clan
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Is the hype returning to FaZe Clan? Richard “FaZe Banks” Bengtson has just revealed his plans for the esports organization now that he’s CEO. FaZe Clan has had a rough couple of years. Once seen as a powerful force in the space, it recently faced mass layoffs and was delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange after it was revealed it wasn’t all that profitable after all. It was an unfortunate …
“I don’t care”: MrBeast calls out haters
Olivia Richman
Twitch
YouTuber Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson has called out haters for canceling him over his philanthropic videos. MrBeast is the largest YouTuber right now thanks to his over-the-top videos. While some are just crazy stunts like crashing a train into a ditch, many are massive charity efforts that have won MrBeast many supporters — and apparently haters. Related: MrBeast loses millions on latest YouTube video Recently, MrBeast paid to have over a …
Is Dr Disrespect going to stream on X?
Olivia Richman
Twitch
The speculation never ends with Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm’s fanbase. Recently, his viewers wondered if he was planning to stream on Twitter, and Dr Disrespect has claimed he’d be willing, but only under certain conditions. The Two-Time is one of the most popular streamers in the world, recognizable for his over-the-top persona, mullet, and strong opinions on the gaming industry. After getting permanently banned from Twitch, Dr Disrespect turned to …
Adin Ross forcibly removed from TwitchCon
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Adin Ross has continued his path of controversy by attempting to crash TwitchCon, which didn’t work out. TwitchCon was held in Las Vegas this year, bringing all the biggest content creators to one place where they could interact with fans and participate in panels. Apparently, Ross wanted in on the attention and headed to Las Vegas with the intention of crashing TwitchCon. Adin Ross has very proudly switched to Kick, …
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.
