A major leak at Twitch revealed who received the most money directly from Twitch on the streaming platform in recent years. Only three women are among the top 100. Female streamers are often criticized for raking in so much money through their looks and sexually suggestive behavior.
This is the situation:
- Yesterday, on October 6th, a major Twitch leak occurred: 125 GB of the most important and secret data from the streaming giant was made public. Among other things, it was leaked which 100 Twitch streamers received the most money from Twitch between August 2019 and October 2021.
- Among the top 100 earners on Twitch, there are only 3 women. The statistics show only the money that comes directly from Twitch: primarily revenue from ads and subscriptions. Other earnings from streamers through exclusive contracts or sponsorship deals are not included in the statistics.
- This is now sparking a debate. For a long time, parts of the community have accused women of undeservedly making a lot of money on Twitch through suggestive behavior. Female streamers have been accused of doing things like streaming from bathtubs in their living rooms or “ASMR” streams, where they moan into the microphone to rake in a lot of money.
Only 3 women among the top earners – surprisingly also a German-speaking one
Which women are among the top 100? Among the top 100 earners on Twitch since August 2019 are:
- The streamer Pokimane in 39th place – a gaming streamer. The 25-year-old is known for streams in Valorant or Fortnite.
- Amouranth in 48th place – The 27-year-old “cosplay streamer” is indeed someone who has done “bathtub in the living room” streams and is often criticized.
- Sintica in 71st place – a German-speaking music streamer. She primarily plays music in her streams. With “only” 247,000 followers, she is significantly smaller than her colleagues but apparently has loyal fans who support her with subscriptions on Twitch.
How do the 3 top earners react? Pokimane seems to be happy about the leak (via twitter). She says:
At least people can no longer exaggerate and claim that I earn millions a month from my viewers.
Pokimane
Pokimane had already introduced a donation limit on Twitch a year ago. She says she earns enough to support her living expenses through sponsors, her investments, and exclusive contracts.
What comes from subs and ads is the “smallest part” of her income. Pokimane says: She wants her viewers to keep their money.
There is no public statement from Amouranth. She is currently licking a microphone on Twitch. However, it is known that Amouranth earns a major part of her income not through Twitch, but through the platform “Onlyfans”.
Sintica writes: The leak would change nothing. It has no impact on anything.
This is what others say: A streamer points out that this statistic shows that the excited debates about “titty streamers” making a lot of money from their looks have no real basis. She writes on twitter:
All this energy we spent whining that women are creating a “dangerous precedent” or like incels yelled “titty streamers” and then they aren’t even in the same league when it comes to payouts. Show me the black person on the list while you’re at it.
Vanessa Brassfield, Twitch streamer
Other users discuss with Pokimane whether it is appropriate for millionaires like her to even accept donations.
What’s behind this: The numbers show that the view “Women earn a lot of money on Twitch just because they look good” does not hold. Streamers like “Indiefoxx”, who were excessively accused of this, do not appear on the list. Not even the relatively large streamer Alinity, who had many scandals is in the top 100.
Women are underrepresented among the top earners – just like in all other statistics, such as those for the “biggest streamers” on the platform.
However, it should be noted that the figures published in the leak only reflect a part of the income and do not represent total earnings, but “male streamers” also earn additional money through exclusive deals and sponsorships.
Pokimane once answered a question many are asking about this topic:
Streamer explains why people still donate money to millionaires on Twitch
