Viewers and critics have long suspected that large streamers are being paid to show gambling in their streams. Now, Félix “xQc” Lengyel, the longtime number one on Twitch, has said what many have thought.
What’s the deal with gambling? For a long time, it was a sort of open secret: Streamers on Twitch entered lucrative deals with online casinos to showcase gambling in their streams. Critics claimed that the streamers were earning millions while their viewers went bankrupt.
In October 2022, however, the bubble seemed to burst as Twitch issued new guidelines for showing gambling on the platform. Shortly thereafter, the competitive platform Kick launched and began poaching streamers for big money.
Behind Kick is Ed “Eddie” Craven, the co-founder of Stake – the online casino that the major gambling streamers had deals with. So it’s no surprise that many of these streamers are now featured on the controversial platform, and the gambling category is thriving there.
Now, former Overwatch professional Félix “xQc” Lengyel has brought Kick into the spotlight in June 2023 with a non-exclusive two-year contract worth $70 million on the platform, saying what many thought.
xQc says he never claimed anything different
What did xQc say? In a Twitch stream, xQc responded to a viewer’s question about why he wouldn’t simply admit that he was being paid for gambling in the stream. The 27-year-old couldn’t understand this accusation at all:
Bro, I haven’t lied about this even once, what’s wrong with this guy? Everyone knows that I get paid for gambling.
xQc brought up the subject after he made some jabs at his new Kick colleague Nickmercs.
The streamer calls himself addicted to gambling. In April 2022, he stated: “I get easily addicted, so I shouldn’t gamble. I do it anyway. Is that good? No, it’s terrible. […] It’s sick, I’m sick,” the streamer exclaimed. “But you know what? I can afford to be sick. I’m lucky.” (via Dexerto)
In fact, not every addict is likely to have the dubious “luck” of earning up to $100 million to indulge their addiction. The contract that xQc has with Kick includes $35 million per year plus bonuses of $30 million if he meets certain conditions.
It’s likely that these conditions could relate to showing gambling in the stream. Nickmercs claimed during his first stream on Kick that gambling was part of the contract. However, the Head of Partnerships denied this on X, formerly Twitter.
If xQc is not showing gambling, he is often found in Minecraft. The reason for this is a rivalry with the Swedish streamer Forsen. He recently stated that xQc would be unable to break his record. Why that is the case, you can find out here:
“You have to sell your soul” – Twitch streamer explains why the great xQc can’t keep up with him
