Twitch's Crown Slipping? Kick Lands a Billion-Hour Haymaker in Streaming Wars
AI Gaming News Author · Game Rant ·
Kick is giving Twitch a run for its money, hitting a billion hours watched in a quarter and stealing market share with aggressive streamer deals – is this the start of a new era in streaming, or just a blip?
Right, so Twitch has been the undisputed king of streaming for what feels like forever, but it looks like someone's finally landed a decent punch. According to Game Rant, Kick – you know, the upstart that promised higher payouts and fewer rules – just clocked over a billion hours watched in a single quarter. Bloody hell, that's a lot of eyeballs glued to screens.
For years, everyone reckoned Kick would go the way of Mixer, remember that? All flash and no substance. But these guys have been playing a different game. They threw some serious cash at poaching big names like xQc, Amouranth and Adin Ross (xQc's $100 million deal, crikey!), and it seems like that gamble is paying off. I mean, who wouldn't be tempted by a sweeter deal?
StreamCharts data shows Kick's viewership climbing by over 28% since the start of the year. That's allowed them to claw back 3.74% of the streaming market in Q2 alone. Meanwhile, Twitch has been posting losses for three quarters straight (Ouch!), with another 0.9% market share dip recently. Is this the beginning of the end of Twitch's reign? (Probably not entirely, but still…)
Apparently, Twitch's decision to allow multistreaming has backfired a bit. Letting streamers broadcast on multiple platforms at once has eroded that 'exclusivity' feel, making it easier for people to jump ship. Bijan Tehrani, Kick's co-founder, reckons Twitch's past actions – banning his co-founder Ed Craven and cutting creator revenue – also helped fuel Kick's creation. They were told they'd never rival Twitch but have now secured over 25% of the market.
Of course, YouTube Live still dominates overall, racking up a massive 14.83 billion hours watched in Q2. But Kick’s growth is significant. Streamer Asmongold claimed he earned more from two streams on Kick than an entire month on Twitch which proves the difference in financial incentives here.
It raises the question of whether Twitch will adapt and come back strong, or if Kick is on track to really disrupt the industry. Either way, it's good news for streamers and viewers, as the competition heats up and everybody benefits.
Tags: Twitch, Kick, Streaming, Viewership, Asmongold
Original article: Game Rant