Twitch
Twitch
Macaiyla deletes tweets explaining her latest Twitch ban
Olivia Richman
Twitch streamer Macaiyla was recently banned from Twitch, but fans weren’t sure what exactly led her to be suspended from the streaming platform. Now, Macaiyla has revealed exactly what happened. Macaiyla has been seen as a controversial figure in the streaming community for her edgy tweets and behavior. She has made potentially harmful statements about Korean people after traveling to South Korea, which many figured was the reason behind her …
Twitch
Asmongold hit with ban from Twitch, here’s why it happened
Steven Rondina
Asmongold will not be on Twitch for a time after his alternate account was slapped with a fresh ban. Judging strictly from outward appearances on his main Twitch channel, everything is fine with Asmongold. Bans typically yield the dreaded “time machine” screen and Asmongold’s Twitch account is up and his VODs and clips can still be freely accessed. The trouble is that while Asmongold’s primary Twitch account is still up, …
Twitch
Who is Alissa Violet? How did she become so popular on YouTube?
Olivia Richman
If you are familiar with famous influencers and content creators, you’ve probably heard of Alissa Violet. Whether it’s posing on Instagram, streaming on Twitch, or appearing in a music video, Alissa Violet is seemingly everywhere. But who is Alissa Violet, and how did she become so famous on YouTube and elsewhere? Alissa Violet actually started her online career on Vine, an app similar to TikTok that has since shut down. …
Twitch
Diablo Immortal appears to be pay to win, here’s why
Olivia Richman
Blizzard is under fire after multiple streamers have accused Diablo Immortal of being pay to win. The mobile version of the popular game was released on June 2 after a surprise open beta and was quickly criticized for the amount of money players have to spend in order to avoid an exhausting amount of grinding in later levels. One of the biggest criticizers of Diablo Immortal is Asmongold, a World …
Twitch
Asmongold beats xQc to become most-viewed streamer on Twitch
Olivia Richman
World of Warcraft veteran Asmongold has become the most popular Twitch streamer over the past few weeks. It has been impossible to go online over the past few weeks without hearing about the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial, and Twitch wasn’t any different. Watching the trial and reacting with viewers became somewhat of the new meta on the streaming platform, with most of Twitch’s top streamers taking part in …
Twitch
Did Dr Disrespect trip NBA legend Steph Curry during an NBA game?
Olivia Richman
Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm has responded to accusations that he caused NBA star Steph Curry’s trip while watching a basketball game. The Two-Time attended the Western Conference Finals with OpTic CEO Hector “HECZ” Rodriguez over the weekend and could be seen sitting courtside during Game 3 of Golden State Warriors versus the Dallas Mavericks. The streaming star was wearing his full outfit complete with sunglasses and mullet. At one point, …
Twitch
Pokimane argues against the rise of a gambling meta on Twitch
Olivia Richman
After streamer Felix “xQc” Lengyel told fans that he was back to heavily gambling live on stream, gambling has again become a controversial topic within the streaming community. xQc quit streaming gambling in the past only to come back to gambling sites full force. After losing almost $2 million in one month, xQc told everyone that he could “afford” to be “mentally ill,” demanding that they stop mocking him for …
Twitch
Pokimane sees backlash for comment on Depp vs Amber Heard trial
Olivia Richman
Many popular content creators, including Felix “xQc” Lengyel, have started to live stream reactions to the ongoing Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard trial, realizing how many viewers the highly-publicized case is bringing in. Imane “Pokimane” Anys recently jumped on the controversial trend with an “unbiased” watch party of her own, but was later blamed for taking sides. The Depp versus Heard case has been trending across social channels, on Twitch, …
xQc urges fans to “stop watching” if they don’t like gambling content
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Streamer Felix “xQc” Lengyel has had a stressful past few months. He recently moved back to Canada due to ongoing doxxing issues and dealt with family backlash for his public gambling addiction. While xQc initially announced that he was fine having a gambling addiction since he could afford it, he has since become sick of the backlash from his ongoing decision to gamble away millions on betting sites. On Discord, …
xQc is moving again due to ongoing doxxing issues
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Twitch superstar Felix “xQc” Lengyel is having to move once again thanks to an ongoing issue with doxxing. xQc recently tweeted that he is moving back to Canada, his home country. He tweeted in all caps that he already has a setup built and that “everything is back to normal” in regards to his streaming schedule. But while the tweet was overall positive, with xQc showing off his simple, cozy …
DrLupo banned from Twitch, here’s why and for how long
William Davis
Twitch
Benjamin “DrLupo” Lupo has been banned from Twitch for “unwanted sexual advances,” but what actually happened? Twitch temporarily banned DrLupo from the platform. The ban was announced by DrLupo himself on May 15. An official statement from Twitch stated that the ban was due to “unwanted sexual advances.” DrLupo has explained the cause of the ban and had his Twitch account with 4.6 million followers restored. The ban stems from …
Stalker found address and flew to find her, Pokimane says
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Imane “Pokimane” Anys is one of the most popular female streamers on Twitch, which exposes her to the threat of aggressive fans and even stalkers. Pokimane was featured in an interview with Anthony Padilla where she opened up about some of the more concerning fan interactions she’s had over the years. While many female streamers deal with scary online behavior like harassment and threats, Pokimane said one fan took it …
Here’s why Corinna Kopf is already banned from Twitch again
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Streamer Corinna Kopf has been suspended from Twitch yet again despite just returning to the platform. Kopf is no stranger to getting banned on Twitch. In 2019, Kopf decided to switch to Facebook Gaming after she was banned from Twitch over an old clip. After two years spent streaming for Facebook Gaming, Kopf decided to return to Twitch in March 2022. But just two months later, Kopf has been banned …
How did Herschel Beahmn become top streamer Dr Disrespect?
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Whether it’s drama with Twitch or bashing a popular game, Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm IV has remained one of the most famous and infamous content creators in the streaming space. With millions of followers, it’s safe to say that Dr Disrespect is one of the biggest gaming YouTubers. But how did Beahm become The Two-Time and the popular streamer that he is today? It’s hard to picture Dr Disrespect without …
YouTube Gaming introduces gift subs, here’s how they work
William Davis
Twitch
As many Twitch streamers leave for YouTube Gaming, they can take the gift subs system with them. YouTube Gaming has launched a gift subs equivalent beta program. Gifted memberships will function almost the exact same as they do on Twitch, but a couple of key differences. The program is currently a limited beta for high-profile creators. Here’s how YouTube gifted memberships work and how to get them. Popular streamer Rachell …
Valkyrae calls fans “creepy” for shipping her with male friends
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Popular streamers may deal with a lot of different drama, including hate raids, trolling, and even stalking. Another thing that seems to get on many streamers’ nerves is “shipping,” something that Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter recently discussed on stream. Shipping is fantasizing about people, fiction or real, becoming romantically involved. Fandoms often ship their favorite characters together from anime, movies, or television shows, creating art of them together. But sometimes fans …
Logan Paul’s 99 Originals NFT auction begins soon, how to bid
Olivia Richman
Twitch
To the surprise of very few, Logan Paul has entered the NFT game. Logan Paul has introduced 99 Originals, an NFT project he started working on after his stint as a boxer. “I still wanted to create something that was timeless, something that reflected who I was behind the camera,” Paul said in a trailer for the project. For 99 days, Paul aimed to take the “craziest” photos he could …
xQc’s dad calls him on stream over $1.8 million gambling losses
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Streamer Felix “xQc” Lengyel once quit gambling but has recently given into temptation once again. This time, his gambling addiction lost him $1.8 million over the the span of a month. xQc used to be one of the biggest gambling streamers but started to feel concerned about not only his own mental health, but how he may be influencing his young audience. “We’re not doing gambling. I’m done with it. …
Amouranth makes another big investment ahead of OnlyFans retirement
Olivia Richman
Twitch
It’s no surprise at this point to hear that Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa has invested inyet another company. With her OnlyFans retirement just around the corner, Amouranth has been pursuing alternative forms of income even more than before. After announcing her decision to leave adult content behind, Amouranth revealed that she made $1.5 million per month from OnlyFans alone. But that didn’t stop Amouranth from diversifying her portfolio. In the past …
Who is FaZe Banks and how did he become famous in gaming?
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Most gamers can’t think of FaZe Clan without thinking of Ricky “FaZe Banks” Banks. The chief operating officer of the gaming esports organization, FaZe Banks is often seen as the face of the brand due to his larger than life personality and frequently controversial antics. But who is FaZe Banks really, and how did he get involved with FaZe Clan to begin with? FaZe Banks was born in Massachusetts in …
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.
