Why are major streamers joining Kick from Twitch?

Twitch streamers are leaving the platform in their droves in favour of rival website Kick which is offering far more lucrative financial opportunities to their competitors.

Kick, which is owned by online gambler Tyler ‘Trainwreck’ Niknam, who previously made his name on Twitch, is very similar in style and content that you would find on other streaming sites with gaming being a major source of entertainment on the website.

However, unlike Twitch, gambling and more adult-themed content are more widely accepted on Kick, which was only launched in January 2023.

Last month, two big streaming stars Kai Cenat and iShowSpeed both announced that they would be leaving Twitch to join Rumble, another streaming platform that is popular with political commentators.

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Now the exodus of streamers from Twitch has continued with reportedly more than one million people joining Kick after the New York Times reported that the website had signed Félix 'xQc' Lengyel, one of the world's most popular streamers, for a $100 million deal. However, xQc, has confirmed that he'll still use Twitch for his streams.

In addition to xQc, Twitch's top female streamer Amouranth has also ditched Twitch for Kick in what is thought to be a non-exclusive deal with the site. In an announcement video where she is reading about xQc's deal with Kick, Amouranth says: "So, 100 million dollar deals have started… Can I get one of those?"

Numerous other streamers, including Mizkif, have also spoken out against Twitch, claiming that the streaming site is 'done.'

Interestingly, MrBeast, who is more of a YouTube content creator than a streamer has floated the idea of streaming on Kick in a form of protest against Twitch's new guidelines which are likely to put in place major restrictions on branded content come July 1st.

In a now-deleted tweet, MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, wrote: "I’m not even a Twitch streamer and now I want to stream on a competitor just to spite them for you guys. If YouTube pulled this sh*t, I’d lose my mind."

Other notable steamers who have left Twitch for Kick, include Adin Ross, Destiny, CorinnaKopf and GMHikaru.

Speaking to Sportskeeda in May, Kick co-founder Ed Craven confirmed that the company plans to host in-person events in the future as well as gambling streams.