Twitch
Twitch
Most viewed streams of 2021: Streamers, esports teams, & games
Olivia Richman
We now know the most-viewed streams of 2021, including popular streamers, big esports teams, and the biggest video games of the year in streaming. A press release from SteamHatchet has given insight into streaming’s top performing streamers and games of 2021. Here are some of the most interesting statistics from the report. Most popular esports teams TSM FTXT1FaZe Clan TSM FTX dominated with 56.8 million hours watched across all team …
Twitch
ConnorEatsPants banned emote renews frustration with Twitch
Olivia Richman
ConnorEatsPants has become frustrated with Twitch after running into some issues with his emotes getting banned. ConnorEatsPants is known for his gaming content on YouTube, where he currently has 302,000 subscribers, as well as his streams on Twitch. While on Twitch, ConnorEatsPants uses custom emotes like everyone else, but one of his became the topic of controversy earlier this week. One of his emotes, “connor6Monkey” went against Twitch’s Terms of …
Twitch
Amouranth reveals why she still hasn’t left OnlyFans
Olivia Richman
The Twitch community was shocked when streamer, investor, and adult content creator Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa stated that she planned to leave OnlyFans in June 2022. Yet once July rolled around, Amouranth seemed more active on the app than ever. So is Amouranth leaving OnlyFans? Amouranth became popular on Twitch for her shock antics and adult content, finding loopholes with the broadcast platform’s Terms of Service. She is known for creating …
Twitch
IShowSpeed banned from YouTube, here’s what he did this time
Olivia Richman
Controversial YouTuber Darren “IShowSpeed” Watkins is in trouble yet again, this time for streaming an adult mod in Minecraft. IShowSpeed has blown up on social media over the past year, starting with his problematic appearance on Adin Ross’ dating show, E-Date. IShowSpeed was banned from Twitch for threatening to sexually assault another contest on the show, with Ross also facing backlash for his handling of the situation. Since then, IShowSpeed …
Twitch
MrBeast reveals plans for “most expensive” YouTube video yet
Olivia Richman
YouTuber Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson is known for his over-the-top videos and charitable streams. He is always looking for ways to top his last stunt and this time, MrBeast is planning his most expensive video yet. MrBeast has been on YouTube since 2012 when he was just 13. Since then, MrBeast has gained notoriety online for his wild videos, including a complete Squid Game recreation with over 450 participants and competing …
Twitch
Dr Disrespect may leave streaming on YouTube for Project Moon
Olivia Richman
Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm might be leaving streaming behind. Is Dr Disrespect leaving YouTube? Earlier this year, Dr Disrespect announced the formation of his game development studio named “Midnight Society.” Since then, a vertical battle royale, codenamed Project Moon, has been revealed alongside a very busy development plan. Now it seems that the development timeline is more time-consuming than initially anticipated. Midnight Society is a new game studio looking to …
Twitch
Valkyrae speaks on stalker who followed her at 100 Thieves
Olivia Richman
YouTuber Rachell “Valkryae” Hofstetter is the latest female influencer to deal with a scary stalker situation, and now she’s speaking up about it. Harassment, sexism, and stalking have continued to be huge issues for female streamers, with big names including Imane “Pokimane” Anys and Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa dealing with such behaviors. YouTuber Valkyrae has yet another disturbing story about a fan who took things too far. In a recent interview …
Twitch
Dr Disrespect speaks on Midnight Society development plan
Olivia Richman
Streamer Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm IV recently revealed a game development studio that aimed to go about game development in an entirely new way, with a focus on including community. But the new Midnight Society’s fresh way of handling game development has received some backlash from other game studios. The Two-Time announced a new game earlier this year that’s going by the codename of Project Moon. This new game is …
Pokimane finds sexist teammates in Valorant, calls behavior “cringe”
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Imane “Pokimane” Anys is no stranger to toxicity in Valorant, but she recently had to deal with teammates roasting her without knowing she could hear them, an entirely new experience for the star streamer. Some in the community has often questioned if Pokimane is actually any good at Riot’s tactical shooter despite her reaching Immortal rank. But the questioning doesn’t end on Twitter, as Pokimane recently admitted that she struggles …
Amouranth shares OnlyFans earnings, invites other e-girls to join
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa has never been shy about sharing her investments and earnings. In April of 2022, Amouranth revealed that she made upwards of $1.5 million a month from OnlyFans alone. Now, Amouranth has decided to share some proof to back up this claim. Quoting the Joker in The Dark Knight, Amouranth shared a screenshot of her OnlyFans income on Twitter. The tweet revealed that Amouranth made around $1.5 million …
Who is Andrea Botez, chess champion turned star streamer?
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Andrea Botez has quickly become a popular Twitch streamer along with her sister Alexandria Botez, thanks to the pair’s incredible chess skills. But the two chess players have also become successful outside of the chess world, whether it be for their Just Chatting streams or their controversies. Andrea Botez recently announced that she will be performing weekly chess challenges in a partnership with Coinbase, the same cryptocurrency company that sponsors …
Who is streamer JasonR, and why is he so popular?
Fariha Bhatti
News
Jason “JasonR” Ruchelski has become one of the bigger names on Twitch, but he’s not exactly new in the gaming world. Here’s everything you need to know about the Valorant and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive streamer. JasonR may not be the biggest streamer on Twitch, but a large chunk of Valorant’s audience is familiar with his content. The recent Tarik “tarik” Celik versus JasonR drama was the primary reason behind his …
Is Fedmyster returning to Twitch? Streamer has update for fans
Olivia Richman
Twitch
After being called out for his treatment of fellow streamer Imane “Pokimane” Anys and sexual harassment allegations, Federico “Fedmyster” Gaytan all but disappeared from the internet. The former OfflineTV streamer left Twitch in 2020 after facing backlash for calling out Pokimane in an allegedly leaked Google doc. Despite his initial disappearance, Fedmyster announced a return in the summer of 2021. This didn’t sit right with many people in the streaming …
Ibai breaks viewership record in June, tops xQc in watch time
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Twitch superstar Felix “xQc” Lengyel has been at the top of the viewership charts for quite some time but he has been dethroned by Ibai “Ibai” Llanos. Spanish streamer Ibai just broke Twitch viewership records with his second Night of the Year stream. The special event had content creators boxing each other after receiving professional coaching. The event also had a live audience, adding to the hype for Twitch viewers. …
Asmongold explains why he’s contemplating leaving FFXIV again
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Asmongold is known for his MMORPG prowess and outspoken nature, but those collided recently when the popular Twitch streamer called out the Final Fantasy XIV Online fandom. Asmongold decided to start playing FFXIV again in September 2021 and has been getting a lot of attention for his Stormblood expansion content. While the World of Warcraft streamer previously stated that FFXIV is the new “leader of MMOs,” it seems that it’s …
xQc not up for Streamer of the Year, blames appearance, laziness
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Despite being one of the most popular streamers on Twitch, Felix “xQc” Lengyel has not been nominated for Streamer of the Year at the upcoming Esports Awards. The annual gaming-centric award ceremony is taking place in Las Vegas in December 2022. Up until then, various categories will be announced, showcasing the nominees and allowing fans to vote. One of the most popular categories, Streamer of the Year, has just been …
HasanAbi talks Mizkif out of Saudi Arabia esportswashing event
Steven Rondina
Twitch
The Saudi Arabian government has been making a huge push to endear itself to younger audiences with esportswashing and is courting streamers like Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo and Emily “Emiru” Schunk to do so. Twitch streamer Pokelawls leaked some big news when he discussed a sponsorship offer he received. The Saudi Arabian government offered Pokelawls $100,000 for participation in a “charity” Fortnite tournament and for a series of social media posts …
What’s next for Logan Paul after signing WWE contract?
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Logan Paul has an official contract with WWE, setting him up to appear with the promotion over the next few years. World Wrestling Entertainment is the largest pro wrestling company in the world, with a roster that includes many of the largest names in the industry. This now includes Logan Paul, a controversial YouTube star who has recently focused much of his energy on wrestling and Pokemon card collecting. Logan …
Ibai smashes Twitch records with 3.3 million-viewer event
Steven Rondina
Twitch
Spanish streamer Ibai “Ibai” Llanos Garatea smashed Twitch viewership recors with special event “LA VELADA DEL AÑO II.” Ibai ranks among the largest streamers in the world and flexed those muscles on June 25. “The Evening of the Year 2” attracted an enormous international audience. Viewership peaked at over 3.3 million. This destroys the previous record set by David Cánovas “TheGrefG” Martínez who clocked in over 2.4 million viewers in …
Asmongold’s pay-to-win complaints reach US Senator Ted Cruz
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Asmongold has been notoriously outspoken about his hatred of pay-to-win titles like Diablo Immortal and the complaints have been heard by United States Senator Ted Cruz. The World of Warcraft streamer recently faced backlash for paying hundreds of dollars while playing Diablo Immortal, a mobile game that has extensive micro-transactions. His viewers found it hypocritical after Asmongold had raged against Blizzard during the initial announcement of the game. But Asmongold …
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.
