Live streaming has become a popular source of entertainment for teens and young adults, making stars out of fresh-faced online content creators in the process.
Over the past decade, Amazon’s Twitch has reigned supreme over live video-game streaming, while challengers have come and gone. Both Microsoft and Facebook have tried and failed to launch popular live-streaming services, while YouTube Gaming has fared better.
Now, a burgeoning live video platform called Kick is gaining traction after poaching some of Twitch’s biggest creators. The company’s boasts about lucrative payouts and lax rules have helped it to draw edgier streamers.
Earlier this year, Kick gained recognition after a Canadian creator known online as xQc signed a two-year contract with the company potentially worth $100 million, according to his agent. To put that into perspective, the deal is comparable to the gargantuan sums paid to top footballers.
So, is it time you started paying attention to Kick? Here’s what you need to know about the platform.
What is Kick?
Kick is a fledgling streaming platform that features a mix of gaming and lifestyle content. Take a quick glance at its website and you may even mistake it for Twitch. Both have a similar layout dominated by top streams and popular categories, such as the interactive “just chatting” section where creators engage with viewers.
Like Twitch, streamers generate income on Kick through subscriptions — where users pay fees to access exclusive content — and donations. The service was launched in late 2022 by two billionaire businessmen, Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani, who also own the cryptocurrency casino Stake.com.
How is it different from Twitch?
Kick has tried to position itself as a lucrative and easy-going alternative to Twitch. The platform claims to offer creators an unprecedented 95-5 revenue split, which is unmatched in the industry. Tips also reportedly go straight to creators and it has promised to offer same-day withdrawals of funds.
By comparison, Twitch has been called out by some streamers for its confusing 50-50 revenue programme. Meanwhile, YouTube Gaming lets creators keep 70 per cent of so-called fan funding (including membership fees).
Although Twitch has strict rules regarding things like hate speech and harassment, Kick appears to have a lighter approach to content moderation. Since moving to Kick, banned Twitch streamer Adin Ross has shown porn to his viewers and hosted a self-professed neo-Nazi.
The Kick owners’ backgrounds in crypto gambling have also raised concerns. While Kick bans gambling with other users, it permits users to stream gambling games as long as they abide by local laws. By contrast, gambling streams are prohibited on Twitch.
Still, Kick isn’t a complete wild west: The site’s community guidelines expressly forbid nudity, hate speech, violent conduct, doxxing, fraud, and a variety of other actions in the vein of its rivals.
Have many high-profile streamers moved to it?
Alongside xQc and Adin Ross, a number of other well-known Twitch streamers have announced their departure to Kick.
They include Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa, creator and political commentator Destiny, and chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura.
More recently, Fousey joined Kick following his suspension from Twitch for reportedly exploiting a drunken woman at an airport.
