Nick “Nickmercs” Kolcheff (32) has been one of the most successful streamers on Twitch in recent years, especially with shooters like Apex Legends or Call of Duty: Warzone, making him one of the most-watched shooter streamers. In 2021, he ranked 9th worldwide. But now he talks about the pitfalls of his exclusive contract with Twitch.
This is what Nickmercs says: In a clip, the streamer, who was long exclusive to Twitch but is now also streaming on Kick, says:
For a long time, I saw nothing of the money. I received a fixed amount regardless of what happened. If someone came into the stream and donated 100… that was just, I don’t know, Hey! Thank you so much! I appreciate it! But that’s not mine. I mean it seriously: You get a guaranteed amount, you call it MG. With Kick, I get the MG and everything from the dashboard.
When he says “donated 100”, he means that someone donates 100 Twitch subs to him, which is about 500 €, of which he theoretically gets half.
But according to Nickmercs, he saw nothing from the donation that went personally to his channel.
Nickmercs is known for his skills in shooters like Call of Duty:
Twitch explains “safe deals” and “performance-based deals”
What does Twitch say about it? The CEO of Twitch, Dan Clancy, explains the system a bit differently (via twitter). He says:
- Nickmercs received all the money from the subs
- Additionally, Twitch rounded up the money to a certain guaranteed amount
Other streamers have rather concluded “performance-oriented” deals with Twitch, where the creator took a higher risk if they did not reach the targeted amount. At the same time, these creators also benefited more if their performance exceeded the target amount.
However, some creators fought hard for such an “MG” deal that Nickmercs got.
In retrospect, Twitch’s CEO agrees with streamer Nickmercs that the deal was not ideal and that it is better to make a deal where less money is guaranteed, but streamers also benefit more from their performance.
Twitch streamer in the fight against subscription pressure
This is so exciting: This is the first time we get insight into the details of Twitch deals.
Apparently, Nickmercs chose such a “safe” contract that he could no longer enjoy new Twitch subscriptions. A bizarre situation that many viewers probably aren’t even aware of.
Because actually, every streamer’s declared goal is to gather as many Twitch subscriptions as possible, as that guarantees a steady flow of money: Thus, many streamers have significant problems taking a break, as they fear that during that time subscriptions expire, which disappear forever and their income drops permanently.
For many streamers, the switch to YouTube is a step towards security, as you are no longer reliant on constantly entertaining the viewers for money to flow through subscriptions, but rather have a more stable income stream.
Nickmercs apparently also negotiated such a deal on Twitch that freed him from the “Twitch subscriptions” treadmill, but then he missed the thrill when a lot of donations came in.
The era of such big deals, like the one Nickmercs had, seems to be over:
The days of fat million-dollar deals for streamers on YouTube and Twitch seem to be over
