The latest announcements from Twitch have many streamers considering switching to the competition of YouTube Gaming. The schadenfreude is high among YouTube streamers Guy “DrDisrespect” Beahm and Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter.
What change is being discussed? On September 21, Twitch announced changes to the revenue sharing for streamers. The previous special treatment for larger streamers will no longer be applicable.
The announcement caused quite a stir. Some content creators are wondering if switching to YouTube could be worth it. This is currently a big topic, as YouTube is increasingly attracting streamers away from Twitch.
Former Twitch streamers gloat
Who has spoken out now? DrDisrespect and Valkyrae are both successful content creators on YouTube with 4.08 million and 3.72 million subscribers, respectively. However, there is a crucial difference:
While Valkyrae received an exclusive contract from YouTube in 2020 as one of the first larger names and left Twitch for it, the situation is a bit different for DrDisrespect. He was permanently banned from Twitch the same year, just a few months after signing a multi-year deal.
The reasons for the ban have never been clarified.
For DrDisrespect, the switch didn’t happen entirely willingly – and he apparently still resents that other Twitch streamers are making a lot of money with YouTube deals. Perhaps that’s why he never misses an opportunity to criticize his former streaming home.
What has the Doc said now? In a tweet from September 21, DrDisrespect sharply criticized Twitch. It has become quite a lousy platform, hasn’t it? The Doc added to his post the phrase “Karma gets everyone eventually.”
It’s unclear whether DrDisrespect is referencing the restriction of gambling on the platform, the scandal surrounding sexual harassment, or the changes to revenue sharing – perhaps all of it.
Valkyrae is clearer about it: She tweets from a YouTube event, where she directly speaks with executives. Twitch, on the other hand, is simply greedy.
What bothers Valkyrae about Twitch? She criticizes that Twitch harms both its audience and the actual backbone of the platform, the streamers. At YouTube, they wish for success for both platforms, yet Twitch just throws everything away.
Valkyrae apparently sees the advertising on Twitch as particularly critical. Twitch had indirectly prompted its streamers to simply compensate for their losses from a lower revenue share by running more ads – the share of ad revenue was indeed increased.
Criticism also comes from within
Who else has spoken out? The possibly largest MMORPG streamer Zack, aka Asmongold, also took the opportunity to criticize advertising on Twitch. It would kill the platform, said the streamer.
With 3.3 million followers, Asmongold runs a pretty successful channel on Twitch, but is currently streaming on his secondary account zackrawrr with nearly a million followers.
Whether a subsequent switch to YouTube is on the horizon given the criticism is still unknown. However, it is clear that the drama at Twitch simply does not want to stop right now. Frustration seems to be running high among streamers and viewers alike.
What do you think about the whole situation? Is YouTube the big winner here? Or will many face a rude awakening when they realize that there is also advertising there? Feel free to leave us a comment with your opinion.
The Canadian Félix “xQc” Lengyel has a unique opinion on the switches to YouTube:
