Twitch
Twitch
Valkyrae YouTube contract ends, where is she headed next?
Olivia Richman
Top female streamer Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter is sticking with YouTube for another two years. Valkyrae joined YouTube in 2020 and has spent the last two years enjoying her time on the Google-owned website. On January 31, Valkyrae confirmed that she will be extending her contract to January 2024. Valkyrae didn’t dive into the details of the contract extension. The original contract included a minimum number of hours streamed on YouTube …
Twitch
Pokimane’s Twitch contract runs out, will she head to YouTube?
Olivia Richman
Imane “Pokimane” Anys has teased that a “new chapter” is coming after confirming that her contract with Twitch is ending. On January 31, Pokimane tweeted that her Twitch contract has ended after “a wild two years.” In the same tweet, Pokimane added that she would be back on February 8, a week from now, for the “next chapter.” Pokimane didn’t explain what the next chapter was for her, however, leaving …
Twitch
All about Twitch DMCA and the MasterChef meta controversy
Olivia Richman
Twitch is the most popular streaming platform out there today, but that has also made it the focus of the internet’s ongoing frustration with DMCA. Twitch has gone from permanently banning streamers for year-old VODs featuring copyrighted music to allowing top content creators to stream entire seasons of MasterChef. So what exactly is going on with DMCA on Twitch? DMCA stands for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which is a …
Twitch
Pokimane calls for kid version of Twitch given rampant toxicity
Olivia Richman
Imane “Pokimane” Anys has a generally wholesome stream on Twitch, but she is aware of the more inappropriate that is spread content all throughout the streaming platform. Pokimane recently suggested that there should be a section on Twitch just for kids that filters out adult content. The kid version of Twitch would see content “go through a filter,” making sure it’s acceptable for children who perhaps shouldn’t be watching first-person …
Twitch
Twitch denies JiDion’s ban appeal Pokimane hate raid suspension
Olivia Richman
Controversial content creator Jidon “JiDion” Adams may never stream on Twitch again. After being permanently banned from the streaming platform, JiDion attempted to appeal Twitch’s decision. But the company stuck by its original ruling, stating that his account is “indefinitely suspended.” “Your account was suspended for harassing another person. We have reviewed your appeal and are denying it. Your account is indefinitely suspended due to repeated or severe Terms of …
Twitch
All about SSSniperWolf’s drama, from Photoshop to fake gameplay
Olivia Richman
Now a reaction YouTuber beloved by children, Alia “SSSniperWolf” Shelesh used to be known for her gaming streams and sultry Instagram photos. SSSniperWolf drama has continued to reshape her career, leading to totally different content. SSSniperWolf was named “Favorite Gamer” at the Kids Choice Awards just a few years ago, causing uproar in the gaming community. She used to be known for playing Overwatch at a competitive level, but viewers …
Twitch
Dr Disrespect hates Fortnite so much he’d rather lose viewers
Olivia Richman
YouTube streamer Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm IV decided to try out Fortnite after Tilted Towers return but it’s safe to say that he wasn’t impressed. Dr Disrespect decided to stream Fortnite’s newest update, which included the return of popular location Tilted Towers. Featuring a seemingly bustling town, Tilted Towers was introduced in Fortnite’s first map. Since then, it has been continuously reimagined. The return of Tilted Towers was big news. …
Twitch
Pokimane accuses Ninja of asking Twitch to unban JiDion
Olivia Richman
Twitch streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins may be threatening to sue Imane “Pokimane” Anys after drama erupted over a recent hate raid. Last week, JiDion sent his Twitch followers to go harass Pokimane’s chat during a live stream, causing her to end her broadcast early. Many big-name streamers later stood up for Pokimane, calling the situation sexist. It appears that Twitch agreed that the behavior was inappropriate, giving JiDion a permanent …
Pokimane speaks on sexism regarding female streamers’ looks
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Twitch streamer Imane “Pokimane” Anys has decided to call out sexist behavior after dealing with an abundance of backlash through the early days of 2022. It’s only been a couple of short weeks in the new year, but Pokimane has already encountered some difficulty in 2022. She canceled a stream on January 12 after being harassed by JiDion’s fanbase, leading other big content creators to speak up against misogyny, including …
Twitch streamer faces indefinite ban over emotes, but which one?
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Twitch streamer Jessica49 is trying to figure out which of her emotes led to a ban. Jessica49 is the latest streamer to face a questionable ban from Twitch. Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker was recently banned for using a questionable racial epithet, while another streamer was banned for saying he wanted to “destroy heterosexuals” at Mario Kart. Now, Jessica49’s ban has the streaming community raising its collective eyebrows once again. Twitch emailed …
Disguised Toast claims he got himself banned to scare streamers
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Twitch streamer Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang has now claimed that his recent DMCA suspension was apparently a publicity stunt. On January 10, Disguised Toast received a DMCA strike for watching Death Note. He was on the final episode of the popular anime when he was suspended, making for quite the cliffhanger. At the time, Disguised Toast joked that Twitch should have waited 20 minutes for the finale to end. It …
HasanAbi claims DMCA strike redacted by Twitch, but was it?
Olivia Richman
Twitch
It’s now being speculated that Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker’s DMCA from the Fox Network was fake. On January 8, HasanAbi shared a tweet that showed an email from Twitch warning HasanAbi that he had received a copyright takedown for streaming MasterChef on his recent streams. In response, HasanAbi declared that the MasterChef meta was “over.” While fans were confused as to why HasanAbi received an email while other streamers received suspensions, …
DisguisedToast banned for streaming anime on Twitch, he responds
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Despite all of the backlash from Twitch against the MasterChef meta, streamers have continued to broadcast entire seasons of reality TV shows and anime series while streaming. This has led Jeremy “DisguisedToast” Wang to receive a ban from Twitch on Monday. DisguisedToast has been streaming a variety of anime series on Twitch over the past few weeks. The latest was Death Note, a dark anime based on a manga about …
xQc believes MasterChef meta on Twitch is not over just yet
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker and the MasterChef meta have been at the center of some drama in the streaming industry. Big names on Twitch and YouTube have continued to weigh in on streamers watching entire seasons of reality cooking shows while broadcasting to thousands of viewers. HasanAbi was confident that all streamers had to do was “be careful,” in response to Ludwig, who was critical of content creators who did so. …
Pokimane says she knew Twitch ban was coming, calls it “fair”
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Imane “Pokimane” Anys received her first-ever Twitch ban for streaming Avatar: Last Air Bender to thousands of viewers. But Pokimane isn’t upset about the outcome. Pokimane took to Twitter to open up a bit more about the situation with her fans. According to Pokimane, the suspension was not unfair and was, in fact, “inevitable.” The popular Twitch personality added that she would elaborate on the suspension Monday, reassuring followers that …
HasanAbi declares end of MasterChef meta after copyright claim
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Soon after calling out Ludwig Ahgren for “snitching” on Twitch streamers taking part in the MasterChef meta, Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker received a DMCA copyright claim from the Fox Network. Ludwig took to a recent YouTube stream to discuss the issues with streaming reality shows, prompting HasanAbi to criticize the way Ludwig went about the situation. HasanAbi said that making a video would just draw attention to the MasterChef meta, creating …
HasanAbi accuses Ludwig of “dry-snitching” on Twitch streamers
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Political content creator Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker has responded to Ludwig Ahgren’s recent rant about the MasterChef meta on Twitch. For the past month, big-name Twitch stars like Felix “xQc” Lengyel and Imane “Pokimane” Anys have been streaming reality shows, including many cooking dramas, while chatting with their viewers. For xQc, these have been his most-viewed streams yet, and he even got the attention of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. But many …
Pokimane hit with first-ever Twitch ban, here’s why
Steven Rondina
Twitch
In a surprising turn of events, Imane “Pokimane” Anys has been banned from Twitch. To date, Pokimane has been one of Twitch’s best-behaved streamers. While many prominent personalities have had some dust-ups with moderators, landed in offline drama, or even been hit with permanent bans, that hasn’t been the case for Pokimane. Pokimane has been one of the least controversial big names on the platform, which makes her ban all …
Apex Legends streamer threatens teammate’s family on Twitch
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Competitive players are known for being a bit toxic online, but sometimes players take their behavior further than what is socially acceptable. That was the case when well-known Apex Legends streamer Captain Valenti ultimately was banned on Twitch after a disturbing incident was streaming live. The target of the abusive rant, Cirohsa, shared the clip on Twitter, asking for Twitch and Respawn Entertainment to respond. The clip showed Captain Valenti …
40 streamers arrested in Twitch money laundering scam
Olivia Richman
Twitch
A major money-laundering scam had some content creators making millions of dollars on Twitch by abusing the streaming platform’s monetization systems. 40 people involved in the scam have now been arrested. In November 2021, Twitch confirmed that the company was taking action against 150 streamers who had stolen over $10 million in laundered funds. The streamers, most of whom were based out of Turkey, were using fraudulent credit card transactions …
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.
