Last weekend, Kick made not one but two announcements of global scale, as Twitch superstars xQc and Amouranth are now streaming on the platform. This news has been very unexpected and instantly became the main topic of discussion in the streaming community. The former Overwatch pro player will receive up to $100 million under his contract with Kick, and his first stream caused such hype that the service's servers couldn't handle the influx of viewers.
On June 16, it was announced that Kick had signed a two-year non-exclusive contract with Félix ‘xQc’ Lengyel, who had held the title of most popular Twitch streamer for several years. According to xQc's manager, the deal was worth $70 million, but it could be increased to $100 million through various bonuses and additional conditions. In this case, the value of xQc's contract will essentially put him on par with top professional athletes, such as basketball player Stephen Curry or racing driver Max Verstappen.
xQc's achievements on Twitch
Soon after xQc's announcement, Kaitlyn ‘Amouranth’ Siragusa, one of the most popular female Twitch streamers, conducted her own broadcast on Kick. It was thanks to her that the Pools, Hot Tubs, and Beaches category appeared on Amazon's platform, and it’s symbolic that Amouranth launched her Kick stream on the seventh anniversary of her streaming career. Initially, Amouranth was skeptical about the hype surrounding Kick, but then joked that she "also wants to get a $100 million deal." It is currently unknown if she even has a contract with Kick, but Amouranth has already held several streams on the platform.
Amouranth's achievements on Twitch
XQc and Amouranth's move to Kick immediately became the subject of heated discussions among their colleagues during their streams. Many content creators welcomed this decision and wished them luck on the new platform. Popular streamer Moist Cr1TiKaL said that Twitch had repeatedly banned xQc for breaking their rules, so in retaliation, the Canadian may refuse to continue streaming on Twitch altogether. By the way, Amouranth's situation is similar, as she also received multiple bans from the administration.
Firstly, Kick offers a more beneficial distribution model for streamers: content creators receive 95% of the subscription's cost, while they only receive 50% (or 70% from October 2023 upon meeting the platform's requirements) on Twitch. Secondly, Kick has much less strict rules and moderation. In addition, the platform allows broadcasts of gambling games and online casinos, which are prohibited on Twitch.
The move of xQc and Amouranth to Kick was even more symbolic because it came at a bad time for Twitch. In the last month, the platform has been heavily criticized for a number of unpopular decisions. Firstly, Twitch management tried to introduce strict restrictions on advertising in the live broadcasts, which was very disliked by the top streamers. Many popular content creators, like Asmongold, said that if the changes come into force, they will switch to another platform. In the end, the administration of Twitch postponed this issue and did not change anything yet. Another wave of criticism of the service rose because of the Partner Plus program, thanks to which the top streamers will be able to make more money from subscriptions. A detailed calculation showed that the program is available to about 2.5% of all streamers on the platform.
Considering the series of scandals and the move of top content creators to the platform of competitors, many streamers explicitly stated that Twitch is at risk of losing its leadership in the industry. It should be noted that after xQc's and Amourant's transition, the Kick platform set a new record for Peak Viewers — 458K (this is more than the records of Trovo, Bigo LIVE and Nonolive).
First Broadcasts of xQc and Amouranth on Kick
xQc and Amouranth topped the weekly ranking of the most popular Kick streamers after the first streams on the new platform. xQc attracted 87K PV and took first place among the male streamers. However, he almost got banned by a moderator for violating the DMCA when he streamed 'The Dark Knight'. As for Amouranth, her broadcast reached 11K Peak Viewers, making her the most popular female streamer on the platform from June 12 to June 18.
xQc and Amouranth stats on Kick
Many top streamers who have become popular on Twitch are now broadcasting on Kick. Among them are Adin Ross, Buddha, Trainswrecktv, Hikaru Nakamura and others. Recently, popular rapper Drake hosted an exclusive stream on the platform. With the emergence of xQc and Amouranth, the audience of Kick will grow even more, and other streamers may follow them to the platform. Kick's management is constantly intriguing viewers on social networks with new high-profile announcements, so it is possible that the list of star streamers will soon be filled with familiar names.
Key Kick live viewership statistics:
