There were a lot of interesting events on Twitch in the first week of November. In the digest you will learn about the ban of the most popular streamer in Brazil, the money laundering scandal which invloved Turkish Valorant players, Ninja's record by number of Twitch followers and innovations of Facebook Gaming and YouTube Gaming.
1. Turkish Valorant streamers were accused of money laundering using Twitch
In early October, a Twitch data leak occurred, as a result of which the source code of the platform and information about the earnings of some streamers appeared on the network. The published data also contained information about the abnormally high earnings of some Turkish content makers and Valorant players.
According to journalists, these streamers and esports players were involved in a criminal scheme to launder money through the Twitch virtual currency called Bits. The players agreed to accept hackers' donations from stolen credit cards and later return up to 70% of the amount received. Haberler journalists reported that 2,400 Turkish content makers participated in the scam.
Two BBL Esports players — LEGOO and l0gicman — confirmed that they were part of a criminal scheme, but considered the received transfers to be legal. The esports players have already left the team, and according to media reports, Riot Games will ban them from the professional stage.
2. Gaules got his first Twitch ban during the broadcast of an NBA match — after a few hours he was unbanned
On November 4, Twitch banned the Brazilian streamer Gaules channel during the broadcast of the NBA match. For a content maker, this was the first blocking on the platform.
Neither Gaules nor Twitch representatives gave a reason for the restrictions. Almost immediately after the ban, the streamer announced on Twitter that it would be lifted soon, and he would be able to comment on the match between FURIA and Gambit at PGL Stockholm 2021. This turned out to be the case — on November 5, the content maker's channel was unbanned.
Earlier, Gaules became the most popular streamer of October on Twitch. The Brazilian scored 18.7M Hours Watched with 765 hours of airtime — this is one of the highest figures of the month among all the channels of the platform.
3. Facebook Gaming will pay streamers up to $20 extra for each new paid subscriber
Facebook Gaming has announced a new streamer support program. By the end of 2021, the platform will pay content makers from $5 to $20 for each new paid subscriber.
As part of the program, Facebook Gaming streamers will be able to receive up to $ 10K. The offer will be valid in all countries where the paid subscriptions feature is available. Only content makers who have received an invitation from the platform administration will be able to participate in the bonus program.
4. Ninja became the first streamer to gain 17M followers on Twitch
Ninja set a new record on Twitch, becoming the first streamer to reach 17M subscribers. The content maker tweeted this and published a post with a picture of his Fortnite character and a figure indicating the number of his followers.
Ninja gained most of his followers before August 2019, when he left Twitch and switched to Mixer. Less than a year later, the Microsoft platform ceased to exist, and the streamer eventually returned to Twitch.
This is not the first Ninja record on Twitch. In August 2018, he became the first streamer to gain 10M followers on the platform.
5. YouTube Gaming will have subscriptions giveaways
In 2022, Google will add the ability to give channel subscriptions to YouTube Gaming. Ryan Wyatt, the head of the YouTube gaming division, announced this in the company's blog.
Along with paid subscriptions, YouTube Gaming will have other features to help users create content. Among the novelties are the function of converting clips to YouTube Shorts, additional tools for moderation of broadcasts and Live Redirect, which allows to redirect the audience to someone else's broadcast.
6. Head of Creator Development at Twitch will leave his post
Marcus “Djweat” Graham, Head of Creator Development, has announced his departure from his post. He will stop working in January 2022 — ten years after joining the company.
Graham started his career as a professional Quake player and later became an esports commentator. In 2011, Twitch attracted djWHEAT to its affiliate program, and soon he became a full-time employee of the company.
After leaving Twitch, Graham plans to take a career break to spend more time with his family. He is going to focus again on creating content and helping the platform in ways that “were not able to him before". Who will replace him as head is unknown.
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