Twitch
Twitch
MrBeast was almost on the Titan submarine
Olivia Richman
YouTuber Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson almost ended up on the ill-fated Titan submarine. MrBeast is one of the most successful content creators of all time, boasting over 162 million subscribers on his main channel alone. He has become famous for his larger than life personality, vibrant videos, and philanthropic good deeds. His over-the-top videos have won him dedicated fans all over the world (as well as copycats). It only made sense …
Twitch
Who owns Kick? Kick’s ownership explained
William Davis
Kick is gaining recognition in the streaming community. Every week, more creators are switching sides and joining the controversial platforms. Who owns Kick? The answer might surprise you. Kick is slowly gaining popularity among established content creators. Especially those who are looking to avoid Twitch’s unfair policies regarding compensation. The most recent sign-ups include Felix “xQc” Lengyel and Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa, who both signed massive deals. One of the most …
Twitch
Amouranth reveals why she left Twitch, predicts it will get worse
Olivia Richman
Twitch took a huge blow when the biggest female streamer decided to make the switch to Kick. But what exactly made Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa make the massive change? Felix “xQc” Lengyel shook up the streaming world when he announced he was moving to Kick in a $100 million non-exclusive deal. And just days later, Amouranth followed suit, although it’s unclear what the details of her deal are at this time. …
Twitch
Here’s why Pokimane won’t switch over to Kick
Fariha Bhatti
Twitch exodus has reached a boiling point as big players jump ship to Kick, but Imane “Pokimane” Anys is staying true to the purple banner for personal reasons. Twitch was one of the first flagship platforms to provide gamers with an opportunity to create communities with their live content. Over the years, many new rivals failed to overtake Twitch but it was the platform’s new regulations that led to boycotts …
Twitch
Twitch finally agrees to 70/30 sub split but it may be too late
Olivia Richman
Twitch has revealed that its finally giving into streamers’ demands for a 70/30 sub revenue split. But there’s a big twist. Twitch has been consistently under fire the past few years for inconsistent bans and rulings, unpopular regulations, and taking 50% of streamers’ sub-related income. It all became even worse when Twitch stated there would be big changes to branded content that seemed to greatly harm content creators’ sponsor-related income. …
Twitch
Twitch streamer left traumatized after viewer sets car on fire
Olivia Richman
Twitch streamer Kylee “justfoxii” Carter revealed that a stalker recently set her car on fire, causing an uproar in the streaming community. Stalking is, unfortunately, a very common risk associated with getting big on Twitch. Felix “xQc” Lengyel has moved several times to avoid fans attempting to break into his home, and Imane “Pokimane” Anys has reported similar incidents. Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa has been stalked at multiple conventions and at …
Twitch
The Rise of Twitch Stream Gambling: A Closer Look
William Davis
Twitch stream gambling has exploded onto the scene, turning heads and sparking conversations everywhere. It’s all about the thrill of the bet, live for everyone to see – creating a new wave in both the gaming and streaming worlds. This blog post will explore why it’s gaining traction and what that means for viewers and the platform. Online gambling has seen a big jump in popularity. More people are choosing …
Twitch
CoD removes TimTheTatman skin amid NICKMERCS drama
Fariha Bhatti
The Nick “NICKMERCS” Kolcheff controversy continues to rock the streaming and gaming world. This time, Activision has removed Timothy “TimTheTatman” Betar’s skin from Call of Duty as well. NICKMERCS’ pride month tweet has split the CoD community in two. Some are siding with the FPS streamer, while others are calling him a bigot or “anti-LGBTQ.” While Nick himself has denied his tweet being anti-LGBTQ, he has refused to apologize. Still, …
Is xQc engaged to Fran? xQc relationships explained
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Amidst a ton of drama with his ex-wife, it now seems like Felix “xQc” Lengyel may be actively pursuing an entirely new relationship — and fans are even speculating that he is engaged. xQc attempted to keep his marriage and divorce private from the public, but snooping fans uncovered court documents that showed xQc was married to Samantha “Adept” Lopez and that she had demanded a massive six-figure settlement after …
The Best Casino Twitch Streamers to Follow in 2024
William Davis
Twitch
Live casino streaming is gaining a lot of popularity on sites like Twitch and YouTube. These streamers play casino games live and share their wins and losses with viewers worldwide. The flashing lights and clinking coins make it exciting. If you want insider tips on casino games and big wins, follow the top casino live streamers in 2024. They share excitement, strategies, wins, and losses – all live for entertainment. …
Disguised Toast may leave Valorant, drops DSG team
Olivia Richman
Twitch
YouTuber turned esports enthusiast Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang is seemingly stepping back from Valorant after he announced he is releasing his Challengers players and coach. Disguised Toast has been struggling throughout his Valorant journey, but most recently signed a promising roster to his NA Valorant Challengers League team. Unfortunately, the team failed to reach playoffs and had no chance at Ascension. In the relegation bracket, the team went 0-2 against …
Dream wears mask again after getting bullied for appearance
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Minecraft star Dream is known for having a very toxic community — and this time they are turning on him. After a dramatic face reveal, Dream said he is putting the mask back on due to all the trolling and harassment he’s been receiving. Dream is one of the biggest YouTubers out there and definitely the biggest Minecraft YouTuber. He currently has over 31.6 million subscribers on Youtube and is …
Thinking of Twitch as a Career? Challenges and Opportunities
William Davis
Twitch
For anyone who wishes to start streaming, Twitch is the best way to go! With billions of visits per month, over 100 million Twitch app downloads from Google Play, and an estimated $2.8 billion in revenue during 2022, it’s easy to see why users are swarming towards Twitch. Such an influx generates news, viewers, money, and content, but it also attracts various obstacles, challenges, and issues, which are all part …
NickMercs Call of Duty skin removed over anti-LGBTQ+ tweet
Olivia Richman
Twitch
The backlash against Nick “NickMercs” Kolcheff over his anti-LGBTQ+ comment is continuing. This time, Activision is removing a NIckMercs skin from Call of Duty. Pride Month is a time when the LGBTQ+ community and their allies honor the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City and celebrate being true to themselves and loving themselves. But amidst all of the parades and in-game Pride content, the esports community has lashed out …
xQc drama with Adept results in police coming to his house
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Felix “xQc” Lengyel had to abruptly end a stream when police showed up at his house — again. It’s no secret at this point that xQc is going through a lot of drama — both legal and personal — with his ex-wife Samantha “Adept” Lopez. After the two split, a court document leaked that showed that Adept was asking for financial compensation, and the two have continued to antagonize each …
NickMercs accused of being anti-LGBTQ+ for insensitive tweet
Olivia Richman
Twitch
FaZe Clan co-owner Nick “NickMercs” Kolcheff is facing backlash after expressing concern at Pride Month being recognized in schools. In response to a viral tweet showing controversy over a school’s decision to acknowledge Pride Month, esports caster Chris “Puckett” Puckett called the United States “a sad place” and urged people to “live your own life” and leave others alone. NickMercs replied to this tweet with the sentiment: “They should leave …
Adin Ross faces backlash after begging Hasan to “kill himself”
Fariha Bhatti
Twitch
Kick streamer Adin Ross is once again in hot waters for promoting self-harm and bullying on his social media. Adin Ross’s content isn’t family-friendly, but the streamer is now testing Twitter and his audience’s limits with inappropriate posts. His recent streak of tweets pointed at Hasan Dogan Piker and gaming journalist Jake Lucky is alarming, sending shockwaves across the community. On June 7, Adin Ross begged Hasan to take his life …
New Twitch branded content changes explained
Nicholas James
Twitch
Twitch said it was radically transforming what its streaming environment looks like with huge overhauls to rules, terms of service, and more. Twitch has announced a series of high-profile changes to the core functionalities of the website and its relationship with streamers. Many of these are drawing ire and discontent from Twitch fans and streamers alike. From changes to sponsored content to the social media fallout that resulted from it, …
OTK threatens to leave Twitch, encourages streamers to join
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Twitch’s upcoming changes to branded broadcasts is not going over well with the streaming community, especially OTK. The popular streaming group has now threatened to leave Twitch if the platform goes through with the updates on July 1. The new guidelines will significantly restrict branded streams, including the types of products and how they are allowed to be advertised. Political content, weapons, and adult-oriented products will be prohibited come July …
MrBeast considers Kick stream as a protest against Twitch
Fariha Bhatti
Twitch
Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson is not even a gaming streamer, but he wants to stream on Kick “out of spite” against Twitch. When we think of the biggest content creator in the world, our minds instinctively gravitate toward MrBeast. The content king likes to stick to YouTube challenge videos, but he’s now eyeing the streaming world. However, his reason is entirely different. Twitch recently rocked the gaming ecosystem with a new …
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.
