Twitch
Twitch
How many times has xQc been banned on Twitch?
William Davis
Even the biggest of Twitch streamers can’t outrun the long arm of Twitch’s user license agreement. Félix “xQc” Lengyel is one of the most popular streamers on Twitch with tens of thousands of average viewers and over 9 million followers on his Twitch channel. While he’s often considered Twitch royalty, xQc has gotten banned from Twitch a total of five times. Some of xQc’s bans have had obvious causes, but …
Twitch
HasanAbi angers streaming community over money on Ludwig stream
Olivia Richman
Twitch streamer and political podcaster Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker has frustrated fans by appearing to be a little too cheap during a recent stream collaboration with other top streamers. HasanAbi teamed up with other famous streamers for a recent Twitch broadcast. HasanAbi took xQc, Sodapoppin, Ludwig, Myth, and other big-name streamers to a gun range. They shot a variety of weapons while there, including pistols and sniper rifles, facing off against …
Twitch
Destiny accuses Twitch streamer Ana Voir of stalking him
Olivia Richman
Twitch streamer Steven “Destiny” Bonnell has addressed some concerning drama with Ana Voir, accusing the fellow streamer of stalking him. Destiny and Ana Voir started talking casually, but the initially friendly interactions turned to drama in late September. Ana Voir tweeted that Destiny had gaslighted her by “publicly acting like she’s crazy” even though he was talking to her every day for months. She also accused him of manipulation for …
Twitch
Everything you need to know about WoW streamer Asmongold
Olivia Richman
Known equally for his World of Warcraft streams and his sometimes controversial opinions, Zack “Asmongold” is one of the most popular streamers on Twitch. With over 2.35 million followers and tens of thousands of average viewers per stream, Asmongold is the 23rd most-watched streamer on the platform. He has played World of Warcraft for over 6,200 hours. But Asmongold has recently been frustrated with World of Warcraft, his signature game. …
Twitch
xQc calls out Twitch followers for ruining GTA RP experience
Olivia Richman
Felix “xQc” Lengyel is apparently fed up with GTA RP. Thanks to his antics in the No Pixel 3.0 roleplaying server, xQc had quickly become one of the most popular GTA RP streamers on Twitch. xQc was banned six separate times from the server for his antics, including harassing other streamers and making a scene while in court. Despite the GTA RP craze dying off across most of Twitch, xQc …
Twitch
Dr Disrespect appears on ZLaner’s Twitch stream
Olivia Richman
Call of Duty streamer Zack “ZLaner” Lane has apparently avoiding a Twitch ban after streaming with Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm. Dr Disrespect was permanently banned from Twitch in 2020. It’s still unclear what exactly happened that led to the ban, but The Doc plans to sue the streaming platform for damages caused by the reason behind his being booted. “I’ll say this right now…There’s a reason why we are suing …
Twitch
TimTheTatman signs to Complexity, new merch line coming
William Davis
Complexity just upgraded its stream team with a former member of Twitch royalty. American esports organization Complexity has announced the signing of Timothy “TimTheTatman” Betar. He will join the group as the 15th member of Complexity’s content creation team. The contract comes just weeks after TimtheTatman officially switched from Twitch to YouTube Gaming. This new partnership will be celebrated with an official Complexity x TimTheTatman merchandise line. TimTheTatman is one …
Twitch
Pokimane hits Immortal, shares tips on ranking up
Fariha Bhatti
Popular Twitch streamer Imane “Pokimane” Anys has finally hit one of the highest Valorant ranks and she has valuable tips for players stuck in low ELO. Pokimane has already earned her stripes as one of the top streamers on Twitch, but she’s now dipping her toes in first-person shooter games. The 25-year-old is proving that she’s also an excellent competitive Valorant player with her brand new Immortal rank. https://twitter.com/pokimanelol/status/1439296935257464832 The …
Is Pokimane leaving OfflineTV for an esports organization?
Olivia Richman
Twitch
In a recent stream, Imane “Pokimane” Anys discussed that she was sizable offers from esports and gaming organizations looking to sponsor her. Pokimane is currently with OfflineTV, a group of content creators based in Los Angeles, but she claims esports organizations keep offering her big bucks to sign with them instead. This is not unusual, since esports organizations tend to generate more money and more expediently grow their brands through …
shroud talks why he likes Battlefield 2042 over CoD: Vanguard
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Fans of FPS games have been anxiously awaiting Battlefield 2042. The futuristic shooter has been seen as a wake-up call for the Call of Duty series and now streamers like Michael “shroud” Grzesiek are already comparing it with Call of Duty: Vanguard before either game has launched. As more and more details come out about the two games, shroud has been analyzing what players know so far. Knowing how passionate …
As sinatraa ban ends, Dafran and Cle0h battle over accusations
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Daniel “Dafran” Francesca may just be a simple farmer these days, but he has been creating quite the uproar on Twitter ever since Jay “sinatraa” Won was accused of abusing his ex-girlfriend. Cleo “Cle0h” Hernandez accused sinatraa of mental and sexual abuse earlier this year, leading Sentinels and Riot Games to investigate the claims. Cle0h provided audio recordings of sinatraa allegedly pressuring her to have sex, which sinatraa later claimed …
Amouranth says she won’t burn out or stop streaming anytime soon
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Streamer Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa is one of the most controversial figures on Twitch due to the nature of her adult content that pushes the boundaries of Twitch’s Terms of Service. Some have wondered if she might stop streaming in the forseeable future, given how successful she has been. But her recent comments suggest otherwise. Despite the pushback from some elements of the streaming community, Amouranth has created a very successful …
We now know why Mizkif and Maya broke off their relationship
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Popular streamer Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo has given fans a heartbreaking relationship update. In a September 14 tweet, Mizkif shared a TwitLonger with fans that revealed his relationship with streamer and conservationist Maya Higa had ended. The two have broken up and both Mizkif and Maya wanted to tell the streaming community and their fans the reason behind the decision. https://twitter.com/REALMizkif/status/1437992869244063746?s=20 Mizkif and Maya started dating in the summer of 2019. …
Why did TimtheTatman and DrLupo leave Twitch for YouTube?
Steven Rondina
Twitch
Many have been wondering why famous streamers Benjamin “DrLupo” Lupo and Timothy “TimTheTatman” Betar left Twitch for YouTube. It may ultimately have been a simpler choice than many assumed. Back in August, the duo announced that they were set to leave Twitch and move to YouTube Gaming after signing big-money deals with the video streaming platform. According to a report from the Washington Post, their move stems from the fact …
Pokimane discusses her sexuality with fans on Twitch
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Fans are once again wondering about Imane “Pokimane” Anys’ romantic relationships. Pokimane’s sexuality, relationship status, and even if she would date a fan are all questions that have constantly come up during Pokimane’s streams. Now, Pokimane has decided to address a fan wondering about her sexual orientation. During a recent Valorant stream, a viewer asked Pokimane what her sexuality was, stating that she didn’t have to answer if she wasn’t …
Former RollPlay streamer Kaitlyn says itmeJP sent her porn
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Former RollPlay member Kaitlyn is once again calling out StarCraft content creator John Paul “itmeJP” McDaniel for sending unsolicited pornography to her. In 2020, Kaitlyn took to Twitter to accuse itmeJP of assaulting and abusing her. At the time, Kaitlyn claimed that itmeJP had a cease and desist oder on her that would not allow her to discuss her experiences with RollPlay on Twitch. itmeJP responded with a long blog …
Trainwrecks bashes Twitch streamers for gambling
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Twitch streamer Tyler “Trainwrecks” Niknam has had enough of content creators who gamble and allegedly scam their audiences. In a since-deleted tweet, Trainwrecks called out gambling streamers earlier this week. He felt that an abundance of gambling streamers were actually scammers. “I don’t give a f— who comes after me or who puts me in their sights. If you win every day, you’re a fake and a fraud,” Trainwrecks said. …
Jake Paul claims Floyd Mayweather wanted to have him killed over hat
Steven Rondina
Twitch
The Jake Paul vs. Floyd Mayweather beef isn’t over. The YouTuber-turned-boxer appeared on the FULL SEND podcast on Wednesday to discuss a variety of topics related to combat sports. Among them was his scuffle with Mayweather earlier this year. Though Paul didn’t discuss it in depth and didn’t even seem certain himself, he stated that the 50-0 boxer was looking to arrange his death in the spring. “He was trying …
Pokimane explains why she’s scared of doing IRL streams
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Imane “Pokimane” Anys recently admitted that she’s not comfortable doing IRL streams. IRL (in real life) streams are when content creators live stream from different locations, showing their activities at a gym, store, beach, or any other public place. This has often led to a lot of drama, including Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm being suspended from Twitch for streaming from a bathroom at E3, or streamer JoeyKaotyk facing racist comments …
Valkyrae breaks down crying on stream after Twitter drama
Olivia Richman
Twitch
A recent tweet caused so much drama for 100 Thieves co-owner and content creator Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter that she was brought to crying during a recent live stream. Earlier this week, Valkyrae saw a tweet from a Thomas “Sykkuno” fan that said they didn’t want to see Valkyrae’s ex-boyfriend, Sonii, on stream again. Valkyrae responded that she was “canceling the stream.” According to Valkyrae, the opinion had hurt her so …
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.
