One of Twitch’s most popular streamers announced Friday that he’s joining rival streaming platform Kick. It’s a huge blow to the Amazon-owned site and a sign of its increasingly strained relationship with content creators.
Canadian Felix Rangel, known online as “xQc,” has signed a two-year, nearly $70 million deal with incentives that could total about $100 million, his agent Ryan said. Morrison said.
Lengyel’s deal, which is roughly the size of the two-year extension signed by Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James last year, could shake up the economy of the online entertainment world.
“That’s more than most professional athletes and megastars,” Morrison said. “This is one of the most expensive deals in the entertainment industry.”
Lengyel, 27, chats with fans, hosts a reality show, and broadcasts himself playing video games. With nearly 12 million followers and the ability to attract tens of thousands of viewers at once, he has become a star in the world of live streaming. By some metrics, he is his most popular Twitch streamer.
“Kicking has allowed me to try and do things that I couldn’t do before,” Lengyel said in a statement. “We are very excited to take this opportunity and make the most of our new, creative and fresh ideas in the years to come.”
Top livestream personalities can earn millions of dollars broadcasting their content and attract a community of loyal viewers, but in recent years many have benefited from other platforms such as YouTube. I’m leaving Twitch because I’m attracted to good deals. Some streamers have also complained that Twitch has become less responsive to its online community, focusing more on profitability than on satisfying streamers.
Those concerns came to the fore last fall when Twitch announced a significant cut in the revenue its top streamers are getting from fans who pay to subscribe.convulsions changed its policy this week And we’ve rolled back a recent change that restricted the types of ads streamers can see during their broadcasts.
Kick, a streaming platform backed by Australian online gaming and gambling sites such as Easygo Gaming and online casino Stake.com, was launched this year to emphasize its streamer-friendly policies. Streamers only get 5% of their revenue from subscriptions, but Twitch takes 50%. CEO Ed Craven said that as a start-up, Kick expects to run at a loss.
Lengyel will primarily produce content for Kick, but he won’t be bound by an exclusive deal with the site and may occasionally appear on YouTube and TikTok, Craven said. Lengyel will continue to appear on Twitch, though not as much as before he signed with Kick.
Kick averages 110,000 live streams per day, which is still small compared to Twitch’s 7 million monthly streamers and 31 million daily viewers. However, it grew quickly and attracted other stars.
“It’s about creating something around the creators themselves, creating a community that’s actually built around the creators, not just the corporate structure,” Craven said. . “We really don’t think we have the right to shove it in your pocket and ask you to share a piece of it.”
