Another popular Twitch player is leaving the streaming platform.
In the last few months, notable game streamers have left Twitch for Microsft Mixer, another streaming platform. The live streamers include Ninja, Shroud, and King Gothalion, all who had millions of Twitch followers.
This time, a famous Twitch streamer is heading to YouTube Live. Jack Dunlop, known as his alias “CouRage,” announced that he is moving platforms. CouRage is an immensely popular Fortnite player, as he currently has over two million Twitch followers.
Here is his announcement video via Twitter:
During a press release, CouRage illuminates the reason why he is switching from Twitch to YouTube Live.
“I’m very excited to continue expanding my relationship with my YouTube audience, as well as leverage the platform for new collabs and experiences. This deal with YouTube allows me to create more content and engage with my fans in real time. I am very fortunate to do what I do on a daily basis and welcome my fans to join me on the next phase of my journey.”
CouRage is essentially saying that he wants to grow his gaming brand, and Twitch is not the best platform to do it.
It is very interesting to note that in the cases of Ninja, Shroud, and King Gothalion leaving Twitch, they all cited the same kind of reasoning.
All four gamers view Twitch as an inadequate platform to grow their careers. Twitch is the biggest streaming platform, and they can get a lot of followers, but it does not grant them the same kind of content deals that Mixer and YouTube Live are offering.
There is an evident pattern of popular streamers choosing to lose a bunch of followers in the short term to grow their brand in the long run.
It is also evident that YouTube and Mixer are willing to throw their checkbook at streamers to capture some of Twitch’s market share. The platforms hope that the fans of these popular gamers enjoy their content so much that they are willing to follow them to the new platform.
YouTube, in particular, lags behind Mixer and Twitch in terms of live game stream viewers. YouTube is known as a great platform to post replay content. Gamers will stream live on Twitch or Mixer, and then post a replay video on YouTube. However, with this signing of CouRage, it looks like YouTube is making strides to capture a larger live streaming audience.
Just like all the other gamers that have recently moved from Twitch, CouRage hasn’t revealed the exact terms of his new deal with YouTube, just that it is lucrative enough for him to grow his brand more then he would if he stayed with Twitch.
Twitch has taken a bunch of hits these past few months by losing a lot of big stars. It will be interesting to see how they react to their talent leaving. Will they start investing more into their streamers, or will streamers continue to leave for greener pastures.
