Twitch
Twitch
Mizkif turns down $300K NFT sponsorship, doesn’t want “hate”
Olivia Richman
NFTs are a big topic in the gaming industry, but the conversation isn’t always positive. This skepticism over NFTs has led to Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo turning down a $300K NFT sponsorship. The popular Twitch streamer revealed in a recent stream that he turned down a hefty NFT sponsorship over fear of getting hate. “I didn’t want to get hate on [Reddit]. Now I’m like, why the f— am I such …
Twitch
What is the Twitch Animals, Aquariums, and Zoos channel?
Olivia Richman
Amid all of the controversy and adult content drama, Twitch has introduced a wholesome streaming category called Animals, Aquariums, and Zoos. This new Twitch category is all about cute pets, animal rescue live streams, and informative streams from animal experts. Other channels have been using the category to broadcast beekeeping, taking care of ducks, and revealing what it takes to run a farm. Twitch announced that it would launch Animal …
Twitch
Twitch Rivals: Ultimate Challenge schedule, competitors
Olivia Richman
Some of the most popular streamers on Twitch are currently in Las Vegas competing in the Twitch Rivals: Ultimate Challenge. This live event started November 4 and is continuing today, bringing a blend of IRL physical challenges and video game-related competitions together for a one-of-a-kind entertainment experience. This is the first major live event Twitch has held since 2019. 32 creators were flown to Las Vegas to create 16 duos …
Twitch
MrBeast shares updates, photos for upcoming Squid Game challenge
Olivia Richman
Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson is known as one of the highest-paid content creators on YouTube. Now, the charitable influencer is looking to give away some money in one of the most viral ways possible; a Squid Game recreation. Squid Game, a Korean drama in the battle royale genre with a focus on class and capitalism, is one of the most popular shows on Netflix at the moment. It has also become …
Twitch
HasanAbi says he is sick of “deranged” trolls, may leave Twitch
Olivia Richman
Political Twitch streamer Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker said in a recent live broadcast that he was thinking of quitting Twitch for some time due to ongoing harassment. HasanAbi opened up to fans about the situation on October 28, telling them that it was something he had been thinking about for a while. HasanAbi admitted that it “doesn’t feel good” when he streams thanks to trolls and his family being both doxxed …
Twitch
Who is Valkyrae? All about the popular streamer and YouTuber
Olivia Richman
Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter is known as the “Queen of YouTube” and recently became co-owner of the esports organization she streams for, 100 Thieves. With 3.57 million YouTube subscribers, Valkyrae is considered one of the most popular female streamers in the world. So how did this content creation powerhouse become one of the biggest names in gaming? Valkyrae is 29 years old. She was born on January 8, 1992. Valkyrae was …
Twitch
Who is TheGrefg? The Spanish streamer taking Twitch by storm
William Davis
TheGrefg is almost unknown in the United States, but the Spanish-speaking streamer is a massive deal on Twitch. David Cánovas “TheGrefG” Martínez is a Spanish Twitch streamer. His channel is currently the seventh most-followed channel on the platform with just under 17 million followers. He began posting on YouTube in 2012 before later switching to Twitch. Now TheGrefg runs one of the most popular channels on Twitch. He mostly streams …
Twitch
Valkyrae’s RFLCT skincare line shuts down following backlash
Fariha Bhatti
Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter’s skincare line RFLCT has been terminated after backlash from the community. YouTube streamer Valkyrae’s venture into the skincare industry has reached a dead end after two weeks of drama and controversy. The website for the product has been taken down from the internet, with a message that reads, “RFLCT is no longer available.” “While we believe in the formulations created, after further reflection, we have decided to …
Asmongold reveals loss of his mother, WoW fans offer support
Olivia Richman
Twitch
World of Warcraft streamer Asmongold revealed on Twitter that his mother has passed away. The personality revealed on social media that is family had suffered a serious loss, with his mother dying earlier in the week. It’s unclear what the cause was, but Asmongold made it clear that he was deeply wounded by her passing: https://twitter.com/Asmongold/status/1454215911183892484 Asmongold is a prolific World of Warcraft streamer and has become one of the …
Sodapoppin brushes off Pokimane’s “boring” RTS announcement
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Not everyone is excited by what Imane “Pokimane” Anys claimed to be as the “biggest announcement” of her career. Earlier this week, Pokimane teased that she was going to share a huge career move the next day. Speculations ranged from Pokimane moving to YouTube Gaming to starting an OnlyFans. But Pokimane cleared up the confusion on October 27 by unveiling a talent management company for esports and streamers, RTS. “Our …
Pokimane announces RTS talent management for streamers, esports
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Imane “Pokimane” Anys has announced her new talent management and brand consulting firm. Pokimane is now the co-founder and chief creative officer of RTS, officially launched on October 27. The talent management firm has the goal of “fixing what is broken” within the gaming and esports industries when it comes to brand partnerships and talent management. Pokimane is hoping to make creators’ lives easier and help companies integrate into gaming, …
Corinna Kopf denies Bryce Hall statutory rape accusations
Olivia Richman
Twitch
TikTok star Bryce Hall is attempting to sway fans against streamer Corinna Kopf by accusing the Facebook Gaming content creator of trying to hook up with him while he was underage. Former Sway House leader Hall recently got a mullet, which he showed off in a YouTube video posted earlier in October. This was the first time many people saw the online celebrity without his signature haircut and many applauded …
Gus Johnson steps back after ex opens up on traumatic pregnancy
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Podcaster and YouTuber Gus Johnson is not really known for controversy. Johnson has largely stayed out of any drama and is better known for his absurd short satirical skits and small-town review series. But all of that has changed. Johnson announced that he is stepping away from content creation, including his podcast and in-person shows, after a former girlfriend came forward with a series of bad experiences from their past …
xQc continues critique of Valkyrae over RFLCT controversy
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Felix “xQc” Lengyel is continuing to criticize Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter for how the streamer has handled the backlash to her RFLCT skincare line. Valkyrae has been under fire after announcing the upcoming launch of RFLCT, a skincare line aimed at protecting gamers’ skin against the damage that can allegedly be caused by blue light pollution from monitors and phones. Valkyrae finally came forward about the controversy in a recent stream, …
Valkyrae streams, says she wants out after RFLCT controversy
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter has finally made an official statement about her skincare line RFLCT as controversy continues over the validity of its blue light pollution claims. Valkyrae recently revealed a new skincare line called RFLCT that claims to protect gamers’ skin against blue light pollution from their monitors and phones. It was immediately met with skepticism from the streaming and gaming communities at large, with many accusing her of potentially …
xQc not happy with Los Angeles, reveals move in the near future
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Felix “xQc” Lengyel may soon be on the move again. xQc is already not feeling Los Angeles. The big-name streamer moved to the entertainment capital after dealing with armed intruders and other disturbing encounters at his previous home. After moving around for a while, including a brief stint spent staying with fellow streamer Sodapoppin, xQc landed in Los Angeles. Whilen LA, xQc stayed with HasanAbi in his new mansion before …
Valkyrae promises “sources” to come on RFLCT skincare claims
Fariha Bhatti
News
Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter has finally broken her silence and has promised to add “sources” to her RFLCT skincare line product’s website. Two days after the release of RFLCT, Valkyrae has responded to the growing criticism towards her new product. The streamer called the brutal reaction “warranted” and promised that sources explaining RFLCT’s purpose would soon appear on its website. https://twitter.com/Valkyrae/status/1451299256657068034 “I also was very upset and confused when I saw …
Valkyrae responds to backlash over RFLCT blue light skincare
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter recently revealed her new RFLCT skincare line, a business venture that’s been in the works for two years. But the gaming community has responded with skepticism and criticism. On October 19, Valkyrae announced the launch of her RFLCT skincare line, focused on protecting gamers’ faces from blue light pollution. The website included two skincare routines, using a variety of moisturizers and balms. The site also made clear …
Why are fans skeptical about the new Valkyrae RFLCT beauty line?
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Star streamer Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter is a powerhouse on YouTube and a co-owner of 100 Thieves. She’s now added “beauty guru” to her list of accomplishments, but fans are quite skeptical of her new brand. RFLCT is a skincare line that’s all about protecting gamers’ faces from blue light pollution, which comes from phone and PC screens. Valkryae announced on Twitter that she’s the co-founder of the company. https://twitter.com/Valkyrae/status/1450498051013943297 According …
Emiru impersonates Cr1TiKaL on recent Twitch stream
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Emily “Emiru” has decided to embrace her voice, even comparing it to the Moist Man himself, Charles “Cr1TiKaL” White. In a recent live broadcast on Twitch, the League of Legends streamer opened up about her insecurities when it comes to her own voice. According to Emiru, she’s recently been getting a lot of comments regarding her voice and how it sounds like other people, including famous content creator and streamer …
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.
