Twitch
Twitch
The content creators of the year at The 2022 Game Awards
Olivia Richman
The Game Awards is returning in December 2022, celebrating the best video games, esports players, and content creators of the year. Games like Horizon: Forbidden West, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, God of War Ragnarok, and Elden Ring have dominated most categories. But the Content Creator of the Year award is a break from these games for a closer look at some popular faces on Twitch and YouTube. The …
Twitch
ExtraEmily reacts to racist encounter during public livestream
Olivia Richman
Twitch streamer Emily “ExtraEmily” Zhang recently dealt with racism that had her community angry. ExtraEmily was streaming in McDonald’s when a stranger appeared and started making offensive comments about her race. At first, the streamer was just enjoying a milkshake with viewers but was interrupted when a woman popped up behind her. “Hi fans! We’re here from California! I’m on some Chinese, Japanese, I don’t know — Some type of …
Twitch
These are the longest subathons on Twitch so far
Olivia Richman
Subathons are a way for streamers to attract attention with ludicrously long streams, and Twitch Partner Emilycc has become the first person to have a continuous year-long subathon. Emilycc livestreamed for 365 days, which is the equivalent of 8,760 hours, to reach the shocking record. And she is still going now. As of writing this article, Emilycc has been livestreaming for 370 days. Her new goal is to stream for …
Twitch
Adin Ross gets banned on Twitch after being swatted live
Fariha Bhatti
Twitch streamer Adin Ross was briefly banned from the platform after being swatted during a live stream. Amazon-owned platform Twitch has tightened the rules against trolls, but swatting remains a thing in 2022. There’s no easy way to stop the viewers from hoax-calling the emergency services, which is why swatting is incredibly common on Twitch. Adin Ross is the recent target of the trolls, but that’s not all that happened. …
Twitch
Adin Ross and Kai Cenat accused of transphobia once again
Olivia Richman
Twitch streamers Adin Ross and Kai Cenat are being accused of transphobic behavior after a recent clip of the two influencers questioning a woman’s gender went viral. During a stream over the weekend, Ross and Cenat decided to go live with two women from Discord for an e-date stream. But as the stream went on, Ross and Cenat continued to question the identity of one of the women due to …
Twitch
Adept subtweets xQc’s new girlfriend Nyyxxii over streamed kiss
Olivia Richman
Felix “xQc” Lengyel has been the subject of drama the past few days, which is nothing new for the controversial streamer. This time around, it’s due to his whirlwind of a relationship status. xQc left Adept in mid-September, although the two have been seen together since the heated breakup. While this left many confused if the two were together once again, xQc has since revealed that he’s moved on to …
Twitch
Does xQc have a new girlfriend? All about Nyyxxii
Olivia Richman
Felix “xQc” Lengyel surprised his fanbase by announcing a new relationship just a month or so after leaving his off-and-on again girlfriend Adept. xQc is the most popular streamer on Twitch thanks to his outspoken personality and controversial behavior. He was recently under fire for ditching QTCinderella’s Shitcamp last minute so that he could deal with some family issues, which was later revealed as a breakup with Adept due to …
News
Misfits Gaming announces $20 million fund amid QTCinderella signing
William Davis
Misfits Gaming is making waves. Ahead of the signing of streamer QTCinderella, the organization announced a $20 million Creator Fund. Mostly known for its former League of Legends team competing in the LEC and Overwatch’s League Florida Mayhem, Misfits is a South Florida-based organization. Back in June, Misfits sold its LEC slot to Team Heretics, marking the end of its presence in the European competitive scene. Now, the organization seems …
QTCinderella joins Misfits, accuses TSM of not supporting her
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Dynamic content creator QTCinderella has signed with Misfits Gaming Group just days after leaving TSM. QTCinderella has become one of the most popular female streamers on Twitch thanks to her popular broadcasts and creative influencer-filled events like The Streamer Awards and Shitcamp. But it was actually her passion for these larger projects that resulted in her leaving TSM to join another organization. Misfits excitedly announced the signing on November 3, …
Adin Ross and Corinna Kopf trolled by fake Adept on Twitch
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Ever since it was revealed that Adept technically owned Felix “xQc” Lengyel’s luxury car, it’s become a big joke in the streaming community. xQc showed off a McLaren 720s Spider in late 2021 that cost $300,000. But fans were left confused as to why he spent money on a luxury sports car when he doesn’t even have a license. What nobody questioned at the time, however, was how did xQc …
Is Toast going pro in Valorant? Dapr interested in joining team
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Popular Twitch streamer and OfflineTV member Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang is considering going pro in Valorant, but he wants the cream of the crop on his team. Valorant esports is at its pinnacle in 2022. Riot Games has announced a separate off-season when exciting third-party tournaments would occur, but professional teams also use this time for roster swaps. Plenty of top Valorant players are waiting to be picked and Disguised …
Adept reveals that xQc’s McLaren is registered in her name
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Felix “xQc” Lengyel made headlines late last year when he revealed that he’d purchased a $300,000 McLaren 720s Spider, but it appears that the luxury car legally belongs to his ex-girlfriend Adept. Not only was the car quite flashy, but xQc has publicly stated in the past that he doesn’t have a license. This made it all the more odd that xQc would own such a pricey car just to …
Are xQc and Adept dating again? Fans spot her in xQc’s stream
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Felix “xQc” Lengyel and Adept have had a very public and dramatic off-and-on again relationship. It has left fans of the boisterous, outspoken streamer confused if the two are dating or not. Previously, xQc was in hot water for ditching Shitcamp last minute. The streaming community felt that it was inconsiderate at the time but wasn’t aware that xQc was secretly dealing with relationship issues that ultimately led to a …
Dr Disrespect asks Elon Musk to “wake up,” offers Twitter check mark alternative
Fariha Bhatti
News
In a weird crossover, Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm has offered a recommendation to Elon Musk amid debate around Twitter check mark monetization. Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition has been eventful. Memes, controversies, debates, and drama have swamped the social media site since the tech titan entered Twitter headquarters, carrying a sink. However, things took a serious turn when reports of the blue check mark going behind a paywall started swirling. Now, …
Pokimane responds to criticism after paying for parents’ retirement
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Imane “Pokimane” Anys has responded to haters that lashed out at her for a recent tweet about her parents’ retirement. Last night, Pokimane proudly announced that she had paid for her parents’ retirement, something that she felt very strongly about. She added in a follow-up tweet that she always felt “indebted” to her parents since they are immigrants and “nothing makes me happier than repaying them for their sacrifices.” The …
Adriana Chechik was pregnant during TwitchCon back injury
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Streamer Adriana Chechik has been sharing her recovery story ever since she broke her back at TwitchCon, and her most recent update has many in the Twitch community devastated. At TwitchCon 2022, Chechik jumped into the foam pit that Lenovo set up, leading to her injuring her spine in multiple places. While filled with foam blocks, the pit was too shallow and nothing was covering the concrete beneath, causing many …
Dr Disrespect gives bad review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Olivia Richman
Twitch
YouTuber Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm spent a large chunk of 2022 bashing Call of Duty: Warzone while promoting his own battle royale from his studio Midnight Society. Now, Dr Disrespect has given Modern Warfare 2 a shot and has an unsurprising summary of his experience. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was highly anticipated up to its release on October 28. Gamers had been enjoying the campaign for a week …
xQc rages over “busted” Zarya, calls for Overwatch 2 devs to fix the game
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Overwatch 2 has been riddled with controversy since launch, from queues with 30,000 players to controversial mods to an influx of cheaters. Now, popular streamer and former Overwatch League pro Felix “xQc” Lengyel is demanding more patches. Overwatch 2 has been ridiculed since the beta for its unbalanced roster of heroes. With the game going 5v5, tanks have become more aggressive, leaving DPS and support heroes more vulnerable than in …
MrBeast sponsors Ludwig’s Smash event after he loses $200K
William Davis
Twitch
Streamer Ludwig Ahgren revealed that he lost six figures on the most recent Ludwig Smash Invitational. Ludwig started his career as a content creator with Smash, so it is not a surprise that he gives back to this community as frequently as possible. On October 21, the Ludwig Smash Invitational took place in Las Vegas, Nevada. The competition ran through the weekend and finished on October 23. It had competitors …
Dr Disrespect calls out Call of Duty players that want SBMM in
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm is no stranger to criticizing Call of Duty. In fact, it’s what he is often found doing during most of his streams and on his social media accounts. This time, he has taken aim at the franchise’s use of SBMM. SBMM is short for skill-based matchmaking, something that most FPS games — including the new Call of Duty game — use to ensure matches have similarly …
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.
