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Night Light | End of an Era

Night Light | End of an Era

End of an Era: Pokimane Leaves Twitch

We’re only a month into 2024, and already so much has happened in the live streaming space. Yesterday, Pokimane announced that she would no longer be exclusively streaming on Twitch. This is a big deal because she has been the first face you see when you download the app, and her meet-and-greet always has a line out the door at TwitchCon. This week, I want to talk about the state of live streaming platforms right now and why I would expect more creators to do the same as Poki.

When I think of the biggest female streamer, I think of Pokimane.

Streamers Want Control Over Where and When They Stream:

Some of the OG streamers have been going live 70 hours a week for years now; the streamer lifestyle isn’t easy. It’s less time-consuming to build a VOD strategy on YouTube to generate passive income. We’ve also seen more creators streaming their content across both Twitch and YouTube after Dan Clancy (Twitch CEO) rolled back Twitch’s exclusivity clause.

After listening to Poki’s recent podcast covering exclusivity deals (starting at 3:25), I feel that these contracts prioritize the quantity of content, not the quality of content. This probably played a big factor in why Poki decided to leave Twitch. It also makes more sense now to stream across multiple platforms to cast the widest next possible. MoistCr1TiKaL is actually seeing a higher CCV on YouTube than Twitch; the migration to another platform paid off.

Live Streaming Platforms are Stagnating:

Has anyone else noticed that the giant Kick deals have slowed down in the last 6 months? Even Ludwig mentioned that his exclusive contract with YouTube probably won’t get renewed, and the era of big exclusive contracts might be over.

Looks pretty flat still…
Source: TwitchTracker

Twitch has also been under constant scrutiny for its new revenue split that rolled out in October of last year. Most streamers don’t have custom deals, and a 50/50 split (remember, this is most streamers on the platform) doesn’t favor the creator. Another thing to consider is Twitch and YouTube Gaming have gone through massive layoffs and restructuring.

The Streaming Industry is Becoming Younger

Let’s take a look at the top 10 streamed channels in January of 2020. The average age of these streamers is 33 years old (only a few were younger than 25 at the time).

Now lets take a look at the top 10 streamed channels in the last 30 days. Kai and Jynxzi are both 22, Caseoh is 25, and Elias is 26.

The industry is becoming younger. Kids are gravitating to new streamers that haven’t been here for years.

The Big Takeaway:

I don’t blame Poki for wanting to explore other platforms. We’re in this weird period of stagnation where the big contracts we used to see aren’t happening anymore, platforms are being deprioritized, and streamers are looking for better places to focus their time. We still have 11 months left of 2024, and I’d expect to see other creators following in Pokimane’s footsteps.