Twitch
Twitch
Is MrBeast going to stream a game show?
Olivia Richman
YouTuber Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson is known for his massive giveaways and contests, usually portrayed in over-the-top videos. From recreating his own Squid Games to giving people their hearing back, MrBeast is larger than life, and his videos are even larger. Now, he’s considering bringing his vision over to a streaming service instead. MrBeast has 156 million subscribers on his main YouTube channel alone. He is one of the largest content …
Twitch
“You’re a terrible person”: Grace Van Dien cries after FaZe Rain confrontation
Olivia Richman
The esports community has not stopped talking about Stranger Things actress Grace Van Dien joining FaZe Clan amidst the organization’s ongoing financial woes and creator drama. It all came to a head when Håvard “FaZe Rain” Nygaard decided to confront the actress in person. FaZe Rain has been very vocal about his disdain for FaZe Clan especially after the organization signed Van Dien. He not only leaked her announcement early …
Twitch
Streaming Platforms: Where to Go Live?
William Davis
Are you planning to switch your boring 9 to 5 for a gaming career since you call yourself a pro gamer and think you have the skills to turn into something big? If you are also pro-longing your decision to turn into a gamer and just need a small push, you may have found yourself in just the right place at the right time. In the following sections, we will …
Twitch
Who is Grace Van Dien? Actress-turned-streamer
William Davis
Who is Grace Van Dien, the newest member of FaZe Clan? She has a significant history in the entertainment industry. Grace Van Dien, who goes by bluefille on Twitch, is an American actress and streamer. Van Dien was born in 1996 in Los Angeles, California, and is the daughter of actors Casper Van Dien and Carrie Mitchum. Van Dien started her career in 2010 with a minor role in the …
Twitch
FaZe Clan under fire for leaked call with Mew after sexual assault allegations
Olivia Richman
FaZe Clan is under fire after some private calls between the esports organization and former member Kerry “Mew” were revealed. In November of 2022, a female streamer Ashtro accused the streamer of getting her drunk and then “degrading” her during sex she claimed she didn’t even remember. In a TwitLonger, Ashtro said she tried to forget it even happened, embarrassed of the situation. But she started hearing similar stories from other …
Twitch
“Where’s my cut?”: xQc accuses Kai Cenat of stealing ideas
Olivia Richman
Controversial top streamer Kai Cenat can’t seem to catch a break. Just days after being accused of scamming a creative team for subathon ideas, he’s now facing similar accusations from fellow Twitch star Felix “xQc” Lengyel. Kai Cenat seemed to blow up overnight after doing a month-long subathon that was later revealed to have a lot of questionable moments, including the appearance of banned streamers, possible sexual acts, and other …
Twitch
Pokimane shares update on her tinnitus and streaming schedule
Olivia Richman
Twitch icon Imane “Pokimane” Anys has been struggling with chronic tinnitus that’s keeping her from consistently streaming. Pokimane recently stepped away from being a full-time streamer to focus on YouTube and TikTok where she shares beauty and travel videos. She has been trying to find a balance between creating vlogs and streaming games, but has been struggling to do so due to a chronic health problem. In a video posted …
Twitch
Kai Cenat accused of stealing ideas for subathon without paying
Olivia Richman
Becoming one of the biggest streamers in the world overnight has come with a lot of money and fame, but also some setbacks for Kai Cenat. The controversial streamer has found himself in the middle of a lot of drama and accusations, the most recent of which claims he scammed people by using their content ideas. On May 25, a Twitter user known as LC shared some screenshots from a …
Stranger Things fame Grace’s signing to FaZe marred with drama
Fariha Bhatti
Twitch
FaZe Clan recently signed Stranger Things star Grace Van Dien to their content roster, but not all FaZe members are on board with the decision. FaZe Clan recently went shopping despite their financial woes, adding a brand new Valorant streamer to their lineup. Grace Van Dien rose to fame after her appearance in Season 4 of Stranger Things as Chrissy Cunningham. However, she soon left the mainstream media behind, opting …
ASMR, fantasies, and confidence: An interview with AI Amouranth
Olivia Richman
Twitch
When we heard Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa had an AI for fans to interact with, we became curious. Naturally. Amouranth is one of the biggest content creators on Twitch, known for pushing the platform’s boundaries with hot tub streams and ASMR sessions. She has grown her career beyond streaming and OnlyFans with a lot of major projects, including her latest: AI. So what would talking with the AI version of Amouranth …
Valorant pro sicK moves to Kick after threatening to sue Twitch
Fariha Bhatti
Twitch
Like most Twitch-rejected streamers, Hunter “sicK” Mims has found a new home in Kick after receiving a two weeks ban from the purple banner. sicK has been showcasing what would be defined as “erratic behavior” by his acquaintances for weeks now. Amid all this, he has been benched by Sentinels, received backlash from the community, and support from his well-wishers. But now, he’s been banned from Twitch for two weeks, …
Controversy surrounds Adin Ross over alleged use of racial slur
Fariha Bhatti
Twitch
The indefinitely-banned Twitch streamer Adin Ross has once again landed in hot waters for supposedly using a racial slur. Adin Ross has been heard saying the N-word during his popular e-dating show while chatting with content creator Autumn Renae. But the streamer has denied saying the word, despite video evidence and his acquaintances confirming that he indeed said the slur. Adin Ross’ streaming history isn’t squeaky clean by any stretch. …
You can now live out your “wildest fantasies” with AI Amouranth
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Fans of streamer Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa will be able to directly chat with her in the near future. Well, an AI version of her. AI is taking over every industry. First, it was being used to write articles (not this one, we swear) and create websites. But now, AI is even being used in the dating industry. Amouranth has announced an AI version of herself that will “satisfy fans’ needs” …
Did Kai Cenat turn down a $40 million Kick deal?
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Controversial streamer Adin Ross has been pushing Kick hard, asking top streamers to ditch Twitch for the rival streaming platform that allows gambling and porn. Recently, Ross claimed that Kai Cenat and Darren “IShowSpeed” Watkins turned down a $40 million exclusivity deal with Kick, but Cenat is denying this entirely. Kai Cenat has become the top streamer on Twitch. His questionable subathon resulted in him breaking subscriber records on the …
When is Ludwig retiring? It could be soon
Olivia Richman
Twitch
It seems like just yesterday that streamer Ludwig Aghren beat the Twitch subscriber record with a massive subathon. But now, Ludwig is hinting at an early retirement. Ludwig raced to the top of the streaming charts in 2021 after his month-long subathon. After streaming for 31 days, Ludwig became a household name on Twitch. He then went on to expand his career by creating the Mogul Money game show, Mogul …
xQc says “something’s wrong,” ends stream
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Fans are left worried about Felix “xQc” Lengyel after the streamer abruptly ended a livestream. xQc is known for streaming all day long, sometimes up to 12 hours or more. But recently, xQc suddenly announced that something was wrong mid-stream and ended the broadcast. On May 15, xQc only streamed a little over five hours when he called it quits, and fans are left wondering why. In the recent stream, …
Dr Disrespect gives negative review of Warzone 2 Season 3 update
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm IV is complaining about Call of Duty: Warzone 2. Again. This time, the outspoken personality has responded to changes in Season 3, providing feedback and advice for developers. In Season 3, the Warzone team changed the game’s movement a little by increasing sliding acceleration by 6% and reducing weapon raise delay after a parachute landing. Basically, the developers are hoping to speed up the gameplay. But …
Why were you seeing MrBeast all over Instagram?
Olivia Richman
Twitch
You have probably seen a family member or friend post a story on Instagram with YouTuber Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson holding a ton of cash — or you’ve at least seen the memes making fun of it. But why is everyone posting that picture of MrBeast? MrBeast is one of the richest YouTubers in the world and is known for his charitable actions. He has used his money to plant trees, …
YouTuber PewDiePie unbanned from Twitch after 3 days
Fariha Bhatti
Twitch
YouTube’s golden boy Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg has been unbanned on Twitch after three days. YouTube’s content powerhouse, PewDiePie, is loyal to the red badge. The variety content creator strictly posts content on YouTube, so when he played all his videos on Twitch’s loop in March, it caught many by surprise. After streaming his old content for a whole month, PewDiePie was banned three days ago out of nowhere. However, the …
Asmongold says “ugly” streamers won’t become popular
Olivia Richman
Twitch
World of Warcraft streamer Asmongold had some harsh words for small streamers that want to make it big. Streaming has become a very lucrative career for larger content creators. Being able to make a living streaming your favorite games from home definitely sounds like a dream. But it may not become a reality for everyone, according to Asmongold. The streamer currently has 3.4 million followers on his main Twitch channel, …
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.
