- Leading female streaming star Pokimane has signed a new multi-year exclusive deal with Twitch.
- The streamer focuses her reasons to remain on the Amazon-owned platform.
- Community, infrastructure, and chat all contributed to her decision.
While many influential streamers are leaving Twitch for other platforms, one of the biggest stars of the platform is keeping on: Imane "Pokimane" Anys revealed that she has signed a "multi-year deal" to remain on the platform. However, Terms of the contract have not been disclosed. This news further highlights that Twitch holds a substantial advantage in the raging streaming battle as well as crushing speculation that she was contemplating a move to a rival streaming platform.
Pokimane announced the decision with a video that was glamorous and on-brand hype. The video begins with the omnipresent teaser voice promising a massive new reveal before Pokimane turns up to tell us she doesn't know anything. Because she is staying on twitch.
Pokimane, sponsored by the United Talent Agency, started streaming on Twitch six years ago and has created one of the largest fan following to the platform ever. She is one of the top 10 most-followed channels with almost 4 million followers. The popularity of Pokimane's Twitch has also spread to other networks, with 4.6 million YouTube subscribers count and the same number of Instagram followers. Pokimane revealed earlier this year that she is giving $50,000 in gifts to Irvine's esports department at the University of California.
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Her choice to stay with Twitch came after several of the high-profile streamers on the network left for exclusive deals with other platforms. Twitch's surge of departures started last summer when Tyler "Ninja" Blevins struck an exclusive contract with Microsoft-owned Mixer.
Shortly after, Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek followed Ninja to Mixer, while streamers such as Jack "Courage" Dunlop started streaming on YouTube, and Jeremy "DisguisedToast" Wang switched to Facebook Gaming. However, more recently streamers such as Benjamin "Dr. Lupo" Lupo, Saqib "Lirik" Zahid, and Tim "TimTheTatman" Betar opted to remain at Twitch.
Twitch stays dominant in the Streaming Battle
Pokimane outlined the reasons behind her decision to stick with Twitch in a YouTube video following the announcement amid deals that included what she describes as "life-changing money."
Her choice focused primarily on the optimistic approach which Twitch promises to their streamers. The underlying Twitch network – particularly reliable servers and a low streaming latency – is described by Pokimane as a crucial component of chat interactions.
“Since I began my gaming career on Twitch six years ago, the platform has given me such an incredible opportunity to create content and connect with people around the world,” Anys said in a statement. “The community of streamers on Twitch, as well as the community I’ve built around my channel, both mean so much to me. I want to continue to make a lasting impact on the world of live streaming, and I truly believe there’s no other place that has the infrastructure and tools that will allow me to do so.”
Though Pokimane's take is strongly synonymous with her role as one of the top streamers, Twitch remains the most popular streaming platform available.
It also brings up the question of how long "life-changing" payouts would continue to steal away the most famous names if competitors like Mixer can not create a comparable feeling of community.
The contract with Pokimane can signal a change in how streamers treat such lucrative deals.