Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa (27) is currently the most successful streamer on Twitch. She became popular mainly with the controversial “Hot Tub” streams: she sits in a bikini in a wading pool in her apartment. She explains why Twitch allows this trend, even though it is harming the platform’s advertising revenue in the long run.
This is the trend: In a “Hot Tub” stream, a female streamer sits in a hot tub in a bikini and talks to the viewers. By being in the water and technically swimming, she bypasses the nudity rules on Twitch.
Once in the tub, the streamer talks to the viewers. Actions often increase the temptation to donate money or subscribe to the channel. Amouranth likes to write the names of donors on her body or stays in the tub longer the more money comes in.
Many female streamers promote a “Onlyfans” account through the streams, where sexually suggestive content is offered for money.
The streams are causing a controversy on Twitch:
- Big gaming streamers on Twitch like xQc said: This is the most pathetic trend that ever existed on Twitch. He called the streams “garbage.”
- German streamer MontanaBlack demanded that Twitch must do something against the streams.
- Others defend the trend: The streamers can do what they want with their bodies. If there are viewers for this trend and it doesn’t violate Twitch’s rules, we have to live with the “Hot Tub” streams. Those who don’t like it don’t have to watch.
The trend is likely to harm Twitch’s advertising revenue in the long run
How does the trend harm Twitch? A few days ago, Amouranth rode the inflatable banana in a stream and addressed the issues of the world. In her chat, the question arose whether the “Hot Tub” streams are harmful to Twitch.
Amouranth replied:
“Just because you don’t like them doesn’t mean Twitch doesn’t like them. Still: I agree that the “Hot Tub” streams are likely to harm Twitch’s advertising revenue in the long run.
But: If they allow it, then they allow it. That’s just the way it is.”
Amouranth
Amouranth admits that the frivolous nature of the streams could lead to potential advertisers turning away from Twitch and advertising on other platforms.
This would be bad for all streamers on Twitch, as potential revenues would decrease.
Hot Tub Streams bring new regular viewers to Twitch
Why does Twitch allow it then? Amouranth also has a theory for that. Amouranth analyzes her data and looks into the viewership on Twitch. In a conversation with Kotaku, she says:
“The data suggests that viewers stay because of gaming and other activities: nowadays I can play games or just sit at my desk and talk to 10,000 simultaneous viewers.
I can imagine: Internally, Twitch sees a large influx of people coming from outside of Twitch who will likely become recurring viewers.”
Amouranth
According to Amouranth, the Hot Tub streams:
- Do not take viewers away from other streamers on Twitch
- But rather generate and win new viewers from outside: The Hot Tub streamers indeed do the important hard work of increasing the overall viewership on Twitch.
Is that really so? It is hard to say. There are some data that support this.
- In the last 90 days, Twitch grew by 14.4% in viewer hours and average viewers
- At the same time, the “Just Chatting” category grew by 13.5%
- In the last 90 days, hardly any game has emerged that could make an impact on Twitch. The only exception is the Viking hit Valheim, which landed at number 7. Otherwise, “old games” dominate the platform like GTA 5 and League of Legends.
- Amouranth’s channel has grown by 80% in simultaneous viewer numbers and by 230% in followers in the last 90 days.
However:
- Twitch grew by almost 60% in viewer hours during the pandemic year 2020, and back then, there were no Hot Tub streams.
- Just Chatting even grew by 160% in 2020 (all data via sullygnome).
What is clear: Twitch is growing, even though there is a lull in gaming. “Just Chatting” has now become the largest category. The numbers suggest that Twitch is growing and that “non-gaming” content is growing even faster than the gaming part of the platform.
Whether the “Hot Tub” streams are truly the driving force behind the growth cannot be clearly stated from the public data.
Pioneer of the streams says: “Hot Tub” trend is fading, too many girls are doing it
Will the trend continue? The US site Kotaku spoke with some female streamers who also run Hot Tub streams:
- The general view seems to be: So many women are now offering Hot Tub streams that it’s hardly worth it for individual smaller streamers to get in the tub.
- The streamer Firedancer says: “The Hot Tub streams are dying out, slowly but surely.” The numbers are not as high for smaller streamers like her as they once were. However, she still enjoys doing the “Hot Tub” streams.
- The trend is already fading – “the gold rush is over,” explains XoAeriel. She sees herself as a pioneer of the trend, since she was the first with an inflatable tub. In her view, there are now “constantly so many girls in the hot tub.” This has made it less unique.
The topic of “frivolous streams” has been a concern for Twitch for some time. In 2020, the debate ignited over Alinity:
Twitch should take action against scandalous streamer: “Ban or Uprising”
