The streamer CouRage was successful on Twitch with Fortnite . Now he is leaving the streaming platform and switching to YouTube. He explains that the constant battle for “paying customers”, the subscribers, was too much for him.
Who is speaking? That is Jack “CouRage” Dunlop. He was previously an eSports caster for Call of Duty and known for his humorous style. Since 2018, he earned his living as a full-time streamer on Twitch, primarily active in Fortnite.
Now CouRage has announced that after a year and a half as a full-time streamer, he will now exclusively switch to YouTube.
Bound by the Subscriber Button
This is how CouRage justifies the switch: He says in a video that he felt chained to the “subscriber button” on Twitch. According to CouRage, as a Twitch streamer, you are always dependent on subscribers and have to fight for them. This would consume the opportunities to occasionally do something outside of the streams.
This is a toxic way of thinking: “If I don't go live today, then I lose the number X of subscribers, and that means I lose the number X of money.” Every streamer has that in their head.
Therefore, many streamers forgo vacation and holidays.
The better mindset is: “Now I stream a specific number of hours, and then I do something else for a few hours – and from that, I create really good content.”
CouRage got a taste of life without Twitch during a trip to Japan.
During his time away, he had prepared videos but could enjoy his time on the trip and had found his peace, without having to be live all the time and fight for subscribers. For the first time in a long time, he felt what it would be like not to be constantly watching the Subscribe button.
What are subscribers? On Twitch, players have the opportunity to give a “paid subscription” to a streamer, thereby financially supporting them.
The money from “subscriptions” is important for streamers. It is about $2.50 per subscription – often more. Successful streamers have around 20,000 subscriptions – that would be at least $50,000 guaranteed every month.
This subscription lasts only 30 days – therefore streamers are afraid of losing a “paying customer” if they do not renew their subscription.
This struggle for “paying customers” seems to define the everyday life of many streamers and create pressure to exploit themselves and always be available.
A pressure from which CouRage is now escaping by switching to YouTube. The exact details of his new “exclusive contract” are not known: But it can be assumed that the contract secures him financially and frees him from the “yoke of Twitch subscribers”.
A similar deal had Twitch star Ninja made. He can now also afford a vacation more often.
