Twitch
Twitch
Kai Cenat teases return to streaming, here’s what we know
Khizar Mundia
Twitch superstar Kai Cenat took a hiatus from streaming following his massively successful Mafiathon 3, but has now hinted at a return after being away from the platform for several months. Kai Cenat took the streaming industry by storm when he started his Mafiathon subathon events. They had everything, ranging from mainstream celebrity cameos to drama, and this made the content creator even more popular. The Mafiathon events were also …
Twitch
Twitch streamer Elz the Witch to host the 2026 BAFTA Games Awards
Khizar Mundia
Eleanor “Elz the Witch” Neale is a well-known name in the gaming and streaming industry, and she has just been named as the host the 2026 BAFTA Games Awards. The British Academy Games Awards are among the most prestigious awards in gaming, making this a career highlight for the streamer. The event has categories ranging from the best game to the best narrative, crowning the year’s standout titles — and …
Twitch
Who is MEOWDALYN, the viral dog streamer?
Khizar Mundia
Streamers are constantly pushing boundaries, introducing new content and potentially starting new online crazes. Well, MEOWDALYN has gone viral for her unique dog content recently, so this is the ideal opportunity to really understand the kind of content she broadcasts. Roleplaying as an animal isn’t new on Twitch, with multiple streamers having gained notable traction doing so. However, MEOWDALYN’s content takes things up a notch, which is why her clips have …
Twitch
Here’s what we know about totamc’s retirement from streaming
Khizar Mundia
Brazilian content creator Jonathan “totamc” Augusto made a cryptic post on social media, fueling speculation that he may be retiring from streaming. totamc started his streaming career in 2024, but got a massive boost when he was selected as a participant in Kai Cenat’s Streamer University. This increased his visibility exponentially, and the streamer then crossed 1 million followers on Twitch. The streamer has been regularly creating content since then, …
Twitch
MonkaS meaning explained: What does the Twitch emote mean?
Simon Day
You may not know the MonkaS meaning, though if you’ve spent any time watching Twitch or Kick, you will have definitely seen this emote of a stressed frog that’s frequently popping-up in chat during intense moments. Sometimes, you’ll even see the entire chat spamming this exact emote if something scary or uncomfortable is happening. Frog meme sound familiar? The emote you’re thinking of is “monkaS,” and in this article, you’ll …
Twitch
Rakai was suspended from Twitch for sharing personal information
Fariha Bhatti
Twitch streamer Quvonn “Rakai” Linder has revealed the real reason behind his recent suspension on Twitch that would prevent him from streaming for 30 days. Rakai is known for his collaboration and close friendship with streamers like Kai Cenat, Ray, and other AMP members, but many know him for his larger-than-life personality and explosive content. The streamer’s chaotic streams and stunts have quickly made him one of the top creators …
Twitch
KEKW meaning explained: The origins of the laughter emote
Simon Day
If you’ve tuned into any Twitch or Kick stream, you have definitely seen an emote of a toothless person giggling. In fact, you might see the entire chat being flooded with this single emote if something funny or awkward happens on a stream. The emote you’re thinking about is “KEKW,” and in this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about it. In live streaming culture, the term KEKW …
Twitch
theburntpeanut accidentally reveals his face live on stream
Olivia Richman
Popular streamer theburntpeanut accidentally revealed his face live on stream in a very unusual way, and it instantly got fans talking. Unlike most popular streamers, theburntpeanut uses a realistic peanut avatar with human eyes and lips. The streamer behind the increasingly popular character doesn’t show his own face on stream, but a viewer recently tricked him into doing exactly that during a livestream. When a fan sent him an article …
How Twitch affiliates can complete the new Persona verification
Khizar Mundia
Twitch
Some Twitch affiliates are now being required to verify their identities using Persona before they can collect their earnings payouts. Here’s how affiliates on the platform can easily complete the verification process. Several Twitch affiliates have reported seeing mandatory verification prompts of late, and that their payouts are being frozen pending ID and selfie submission. This has raised questions about why Twitch wants streamers to submit their formal means identification, …
Twitch introduces two new ban types, loosens multistreaming rules
Khizar Mundia
Twitch
Livestreaming platform Twitch has announced that two new bans types are now being implemented, meant to target specific offenses without locking out offenders completely. CEO Dan Clancy revealed that certain multistreaming restrictions are also being lifted. Here’s what to know. Bans have often been a sore spot for Twitch as the platform has been accused of being both inconsistent and heavy-handed with its suspensions. Multistreaming has been a new concern …
StableRonaldo, Lacy fire back at Kick CEO’s viewbotting claims
Fariha Bhatti
Kick
Twitch streamers StableRonaldo and Lacy have responded to allegations of viewbotting from Kick CEO Ed Craven, pushing back against those claims while themselves claiming that they had turned down offers from the streaming platform. Viewbotting has become a hot topic across all of streaming of late, with multiple top streamers admitting to inflating their numbers. Those confessions followed comments from Kick CEO Eddie Craven, who claimed that many streamers rely …
Kick CEO accuses StableRonaldo and Lacy of major viewbotting
Khizar Mundia
Kick
As several top streamers and content creators are being accused of viewbotting across the industry, Kick CEO Eddie Craven has specifically called out ex-FaZe Clan members Rani “StableRonaldo” Netz and Nick “Lacy” Fosco for allegedly inflating their viewership. FaZe Clan shut down its streaming team unexpectedly, and fans were worried the streamers would face issues as a result. While such a break-up may have been a problem for some smaller …
Here’s what Twitch dual format streaming is, and how it works
Khizar Mundia
Twitch
Twitch has released a new dual-format streaming option, something that could change how streams are broadcast across different devices. Here’s what dual format streaming is, and exactly how it works on Twitch. Twitch regularly introduces fresh changes and new features to make content creation more efficient. Not everything lands, such as the new pause ads that are being tested and are receiving backlash. Twitch has now announced and started a …
As Twitch announces new pause ads, here’s why viewers are mad
Khizar Mundia
Twitch
Twitch makes the majority of its revenue from online ads delivered to viewers on the streaming platform, and it has now announced that advertisements can be displayed even when viewers pause ongoing broadcasts and streams, resulting in much derision from around the community. Twitch announced in 2025 that it was working on new advertisement formats that would allow viewers to continue watching streams with smaller, muted ad pop-ups. This was …
theburntpeanut has a harsh response for viewbotting accusations
Fariha Bhatti
Twitch
theburntpeanut has climbed to the top of Twitch’s most-watched streamers list, but with viewbotting concerns growing across the platform and throughout streaming in general, some viewers are questioning whether his numbers are fully organic. Here’s how the streamer has responded to those allegations. When it comes to Twitch, a handful of names dominate the top ranks. Hasan Piker, Ibai Garatea, CaseOh, Felix “xQc” Lengyel, and even Tyler “Ninja” Blevins have …
What we know about the JasonTheWeen and Sakura break-up
Khizar Mundia
Twitch
Former FaZe Clan content creator Jason “JasonTheWeen” Nguyen and fellow streamer Sakura Shymko have ended their relationship, sparking speculation among fans about the reason for their break-up. JasonTheWeen is a popular Twitch streamer who set records during his time with FaZe Clan. He has since joined Clover Boys and is continuing to create popular content, with a boxing event being his most recent large-scale production. While he may be stable …
TenZ and Kyedae break up after six years of VALORANT romance
Olivia Richman
Twitch
Former pro VALORANT player Tyson “TenZ” Ngo and popular Valorant streamer Kyedae Shymko have revealed a break-up after six years spent together, leaving their followers disheartened by the news. Here’s what the popular couple had to say about their breaking up the relationship and what comes next for the pair. On January 7, Kyedae shared an update on X (formerly Twitter) that revealed the reason for the couple’s break-up: After …
Tectone returns to streaming, admits to viewbotting
Khizar Mundia
Twitch
Controversial streamer John “Tectone” Robertson has returned to Twitch following a prolonged break, discussing the verdict of his lawsuit and admitting to taking part in viewbotting. Tectone took a break from content creation that many of his fans had expected would be short-lived, but the streamer was ultimately away from streaming and content for several months. His lawsuit with ex-girlfriend Pinkchyu made its way into the public light during his …
Here’s what we know about Clix’s net worth
Khizar Mundia
Twitch
Cody “Clix” Conrod is a famous Fortnite streamer who has recently gone on record talking about his yearly income. This has led to fans to speculate as to what Clix’s net worth is, given his huge growth in popularity in recent years. American streamer Clix may have started his career by playing Fortnite, but he soon became one of the more popular content creators around regardless of game of choice. …
NMS 3 boxing fight results: JasonTheWeen takes punch as referee
Khizar Mundia
Twitch
Jason “JasonTheWeen” Nguyen hosted the NMS 3 boxing event featuring a variety of content creators and streamers, and the results saw the livestream pulled in huge viewership numbers while also resulting in the streamer getting punched in the face during a particularly intense fight. FaZe Clan’s unexpected downfall had fans worried about their favorite FaZe streamers, but JasonTheWeen in particular seems to be doing quite well. He recently joined the …
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.
