Kick Continues to Challenge Twitch’s Hegemony
It would seem like Twitch enthusiasts who thought that YouTube Gaming was the real enemy were gravely mistaken
Kick, a Stake-owned streaming platform, continues to make headlines and dispute Twitch’s rule. For a time, people thought that YouTube Gaming would be the Amazon-owned platform’s true competitor but it turns out that competing with Kick is going to be the real challenge.
Kick provided all streamers neglected by Twitch with a refuge. While the purple platform was busy getting involved in countless controversies, Kick provided streamers with everything they could have wanted: lax rules, financially-appealing contracts and a place where they can stream content on Twitch’s blacklist.
This is big for gambling streamers whose source of income was cut when Twitch decided to ban content from certain sites on its platform. In addition, Twitch’s policies have been getting stricter and stricter, greatly limiting users’ freedom of speech and prompting intense scrutiny from fans of uncensored content. Amazon has been busy banning and suspending people left and right, bullish on enforcing a sterile discipline.
Many Streamers Are Ditching Twitch for Kick
Some months ago, Twitch introduced a ban on certain sites it deemed dangerous, dealing a great blow to the Slots category community. Operators such as Duelbits, Roobets and even Stake were banned from the platform, jeopardizing the livelihoods of Slots content creators.
As a Stake-owned platform, Kick has no such rules, prompting a streamer leak from Twitch into its own platform. All the creators who have felt they’ve been mistreated by Amazon, are now joining the fresh platform. This includes major gambling streamers such as Trainwreckstv, Roshtein and Xposed. Trainwreckstv, in fact, has a leading role in the development of Kick, leveraging his experience to help its new patron do better than Twitch.
This situation forces Twitch to wage a war on two fronts as YouTube Gaming has already been stealing some of its most popular video game streamers.
Kick Mocks Twitch for Keeping 50% of Its Users’ Money
Considering that Kick offers its streamers 95% of the subscription money while Twitch keeps 50%, it is not hard to see why many high-profile streamers have been joining the newer platform. In a recent post, Kick mocked Twitch for its greedier policies, comparing it to a slow car in a professional race.
The car representing Kick even bears the platform’s logo thanks to an agreement between the streaming service and Alfa Romeo.
It is likely that more content creators, especially Slots category stars, will join in the exodus from Twitch. Kick is still young but the platform is ambitious of surpassing its Amazon-owned competitor.
Although Fiona doesn't have a long-spanning background within the gambling industry, she is an incredibly skilled journalist who has built a strong interest in the constantly growing iGaming network. The team at GamblingNews.com is glad to have her on our roster to help deliver the best stories as soon as they hit. Aside from writing, she loves to dabble in online casino games such as slots and roulette, both for her own enjoyment and also as research to better improve her understanding of the industry.
