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Tag: XQc

  • xQc Shares Plans to Circumvent Twitch’s Gambling Bans

    Despite Twitch’s ban on all gambling-related content, popular streamer xQc may be poised to make a bold move by broadcasting gambling content from Kick on Twitch, made possible by the Counter-Strike StarLadder Budapest Major exemption from the rules.

    xQc Plans to Circumvent Twitch’s Rules

    Recently, Twitch agreed to allow the Counter-Strike StarLadder Budapest Major to air, even though the Rollbit crypto casino is one of its primary partners. Tournament organizers are committed to avoiding any verbal references to the brand during broadcasts, limiting its presence to physical branding only.

    xQc has hinted that he might use this situation as a chance to bring Stake back into his Twitch content, which is something he hasn’t been able to do since the platform’s gambling ban. He believes that keeping the operator’s logo off the on-screen overlay could allow him to circumvent Twitch’s rules. On Thursday, he outlined a plan to hang a large Stake banner behind him in his room while streaming slot gameplay.

    If he goes through with it, creators in the gambling space will be watching closely to see how Twitch responds. With more than 12 million followers, xQc ranks among the platform’s top ten creators, and if his approach works, others may be tempted to attempt similar methods to work around Twitch’s strict policies. Some social media users have even speculated that the platform might be open to relaxing its rules due to recent drops in advertising revenue.

    It’s Been Several Years Since Twitch Banned Gambling

    Twitch banned the streaming of certain crypto gambling websites back in 2022. The ban targeted sites offering slots, roulette, and dice games that were not licensed in the US or in “other jurisdictions that provide sufficient consumer protection.” Concerns over potential harm to users were cited as the main reason behind the Amazon-owned platform’s decision.

    The policy change followed threats from several of the platform’s top streamers to quit if Twitch did not revise its rules on gambling streams. Twitch did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    Gambling on the platform has long been a point of controversy, even before the ban happened. Тhe company had been facing criticism from both streamers and users for failing to control popular gambling categories that could pose risks, especially to younger audiences.Stake.com, Rollbit.com, and Duelbits.com were all websites that came under the initial ban. However, over the past few years, more and more online casinos have also been added to the list.

    Stefan Velikov

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  • Twitch Mega Streamer xQc Signed By Gambling Company For $100 Million

    Twitch Mega Streamer xQc Signed By Gambling Company For $100 Million

    Twitch’s biggest streamer, Félix “xQc” Lengyel, is signing with the company’s newest rival, Kick, a streaming platform that offers better revenue splits and also appears to be centered around online gambling. The non-exclusive deal is valued at up to $100 million over two years, and is the latest and biggest blow to Twitch as creator discontent continues to mount.

    Rooster Teeth’s RWBY x Justice League Collab Puts Batman’s New Anime Abilities To Good Use

    As first reported by The New York Times, the agreement will pay out $35 million per year, with $30 million in additional incentives available if xQc hits certain benchmarks. As Dexerto points out, this would make it the 12th biggest annual payout in all of sports, putting xQc right ahead of Kevin Durant.

    Kick is a streaming platform startup funded by online gambling companies including Easygo Gaming and Stake.com. Following Twitch’s crackdown on gambling promotion last fall, the platform attracted big names like Adin Ross, BruceDropEmOff, and Trainwreckstv with its lax rules and 5/95 revenue split for creators. It’s not yet clear if Kick is profitable or how it plans to become so, but it has managed to benefit from a backlash against Twitch as the Amazon-owned platform has sought to more aggressively monetize the people making content for it.

    A “child of Twitch” raised in its often-toxic chat, xQc started in the world of League of Legends before moving on to Overwatch, briefly competing in Blizzard’s Overwatch League before eventually being released from the Dallas Fuel after a series of suspensions for offensive comments. He pivoted to being a full-time content creator in 2018, with this mix of high-level play, unfiltered remarks, and an endless penchant for controversy turning him into Twitch’s most-watched streamer by 2021.

    By 2022, leaks revealed that xQc had earned $8 million from subscriptions on the platform. That same year, he lost $1.8 million in a single month from online gambling. While his contract with Kick doesn’t preclude him from streaming on Twitch, the latter has a rule against simulcasting, making it unclear how much time, if any, xQc will still devote to the platform that helped turn him into a star in the first place.

    “It’s time,” xQc tweeted on June 16, when his new partnership with Kick was announced. The post included a video promising his content would remain unchanged on the new platform. Directly below that was a retweet showing support for streamer Nickmercs, who’d recently come under fire for making anti-LGBTQ+ remarks.

    Ethan Gach

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  • The Year In Twitch Pol Himbo King Hasan Piker

    The Year In Twitch Pol Himbo King Hasan Piker

    Hasan Piker

    Hasan’s head looks normal-sized here, guys.
    Image: Hasanabi on Twitch / Kotaku

    Hasan Piker is many things. He’s a hardcore himbo, an amateur gamer, and frequent heated moment haver. He speaks to legions of young men, women, and enbys on the internet almost every day via his wildly popular Twitch channel, and feeds their parasocial bond via his other social media accounts. Even though he spends most of his time on Twitch reacting to political clips, yelling at his chat, and eating, he’s currently the number 10 most-watched streamer on the platform. That’s because Hasan is the perfect mix of intelligence, sexiness, and bro-ness, through which he effortlessly courts legions of lovers and haters.

    When Hasan buys a Porsche, the internet riots. When he crushes a watermelon with his thighs, they swoon. When he jokes about the Queen of England dying, they go catatonic. To the millions who know him or know of him he’s a champagne socialist, a hypocrite, an important political commentator, and the guy who fucks your mom. He is a prime example of the power of social media, the intricacies of parasocial relationships, and the importance of media literacy.

    Like him or not, Hasan Piker is the reason many young folks know about politics today, and as an out-and-proud Hasanabi head—I watch his streams every day…notice me, Hasan—it only seems fitting that we look back at the year in Hasan Piker.

    Alyssa Mercante

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  • Streamer xQc Says He Put $500,000 On France To Win The World Cup, Womp

    Streamer xQc Says He Put $500,000 On France To Win The World Cup, Womp

    Lionel Messi

    Photo: Quality Sport Images (Getty Images)

    Like a lot of other people around the world, streamer xQc put a bet on the World Cup final earlier tonight. Unlike a lot of other people, however, he claims he threw down half a million dollars, then publicly bragged about it before kick-off.

    Here is the shot:

    (Note that xQc has been caught up in the controversy over Twitch’s decision to ban gambling on the site, brought on in large part down to partnerships like the one between xQc and Stake, the company involved in this bet)

    His bravado was understandable! I loved the Messi narrative as much as the next football fan, but seeing France put both my teams (Australia and England) to the sword without breaking a sweat—and while missing stars like Benzema, Pogba and Kante—made their march to a second successive World Cup win feel somewhat inevitable.

    But no! After one hell of a final, Argentina survived first a Kylian Mbappe-led comeback and then a nervy penalty shootout to emerge victorious, winning their third World Cup final, and first since 1986. Their side is full of great players, from wily veteran Angel Di Maria to beloved shithouser Emi Martinez, but the real star (and focus of the entire planet’s media) was of course on Lionel Messi. The best player in the world over the last 15 years, the one thing missing from his trophy cabinet—and for certain folks his place among the absolute all-time greats—had been a World Cup triumph, so it was wonderful to be able to see him close out what is surely his last campaign with a win.

    Anyway! I’m not here to give you a game recap, I’m just providing context as to why putting $500,000 down on France to win is called a bet, and not a sure thing.

    Here’s the chaser.

    At least he took it well! It was indeed a good game all around, and a fun watch. Especially for those of us who watched it for free. 

    Luke Plunkett

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