The streamer Ludwig “Ludwig” Ahgren switches from Twitch to YouTube. This means the market leader loses one of the most important streamers of 2021 to a cash-rich competitor. Ludwig says he simply does not feel loved by Twitch. “The departure really hurts,” says MeinMMO author Schuhmann.
This is Ludwig:
- Ludwig is a former player and commentator of “Super Smash Bros,” the American has become one of the most important “new” faces on Twitch in the last 2 years. But not with Nintendo’s cute fighting game.
- Ludwig made a name for himself as a perpetual streamer on Twitch: The 26-year-old embraced every trend, being a “live reporter” in Rust, chatting his way into trouble in Among Us, and shaping many events on Twitch. Once he spent $43,000 to hang out with Twitch icon shroud.
- Ludwig became most famous for his “Subathon”: In March 2021, he was on air for 31 days and broke Ninja’s subscription record with 283,066 paying subscribers.
Head of YouTube Gaming celebrates the coup: “There’s more to come”
This is the announcement: Ludwig has signed an exclusive contract with YouTube and will stream exclusively on YouTube.
The head of YouTube Gaming, Ryan Wyatt, celebrates the coup. He says the goal is to build a world-class platform for videos, live streaming, and short content.
He confidently announces: “We’re not done yet.” Apparently, they want to lure even more streamers.
YouTube fought for Ludwig – Twitch did not
Why is Ludwig switching to YouTube? As described by the streamer Disguised Toast, YouTube simply pays more. It’s rumored that YouTube pays on average at least double what Twitch offers.
Ludwig also admits this, but he says: Although YouTube offered more, he actually wanted to stay at Twitch. But they didn’t care enough about him.
When he called YouTube to decline the contract, he said he noticed how much the platform was fighting for him:
“In that moment, I realized: Even though I have been with Twitch for more than three years and people call me the ‘golden boy of Twitch’, I have never felt like the golden boy of Twitch. I never felt particularly loved by Twitch. I love Twitch, but it was not mutual.”
Ludwig
During the negotiations, he asked Twitch for a better offer, but received none. Twitch just wished him good luck at YouTube.
Ludwig is considered an innovative and “important, young streamer”
Why does Ludwig’s loss hurt so much? Ludwig was one of the streamers who set trends on Twitch with his content and events, and was part of the site’s DNA. Ludwig was an integral part of the site and ultimately irreplaceable.
His popularity is not tied to a single game, like Ninja’s back then, but to him as a person. Therefore, the departure of such streamers hurts especially – similar to the loss of DrDisrespect during the controversial ban.
In addition to the loss of TimTheTatman, Ludwig’s departure is a blow to Twitch. YouTube is pulling an important piece from the Jenga tower of Twitch; the tower will still stand, but it will be wobbly.
When people like Ludwig switch, who are still growing and at the top of Twitch, it may also cause other important streamers to consider switching.
The 5 most important gaming streamers who switched from Twitch to YouTube
