The Twitch payout list ranks streamers by the amount of money they’ve made on the platform in the last year
Meanwhile, at Jasmine’s other job: absolute chaos in the form of a security breach, payout leak, and memes.
Let me reel it in. For those of you who don’t know, when I am not DMing every athlete at the University of Ottawa for Sports Confessional responses (sorry athletes!), I am likely streaming Call of Duty: Warzone on Twitch.
Twitch has always been a light part of my life, and the wonderful, supportive little community that I have built is something I am most proud of. It is my happy place.
While my monthly Twitch payout pays my rent (most of the time), for many people, it’s actually their job, and they rely solely on the income that they make as an entertainer or playing video games.
And for some luckier ones, the amount of money they make is unimaginable for regular folk like me, not even including brand deals, endorsements, and other opportunities gained from streaming.
Sounds super great! Until a leak reveals a bunch of sensitive information. Passwords, information about the website, even past versions of the site. But what really stood out to people was the payout list.
Of course, before the leak, people had an idea of the money streamers made by the amount of subscriptions and donations they received on the app. Having this knowledge did require a bit of research, or at least being active in these people’s streams.
Thanks to the leak, people were able to see the actual amounts the highest earners on the platform made, including names that might be familiar to those that don’t follow Twitch or the gaming community. xQc, Nick Mercs, Tfue, Ludwig, and TimTheTatman sit near the top of the list.
The highest earning streamer on the platform was Critical Role, making over $9.6 million since Sept. 2019.
Keep in mind: this list is purely money through the platform and nothing else.
Why is this such a big deal? First off, these people make a lot of fucking money. Second, it caused a shitstorm on Twitter (and elsewhere). Third, memes.
I’d say I was pretty surprised to see how angry people on the internet were to find out that people made millions of dollars playing video games: some were even angry that people would bother subscribing and donating money to people who are already so rich.
To me, it’s pretty obvious that paying for a subscription or donating to a streamer represents the mutual gain that streamer and viewer share. The streamer provides entertainment, the viewer sends them money. Pretty similar to Netflix or something, despite the fact that you can watch Twitch for free. It’s a way to show support and be a part of something.
It doesn’t affect me all that much, but the absolute rage people have regarding the success of others is kind of ridiculous. People are even claiming the amount of money the most popular Twitch streamers make is disgusting, and makes them bad people.
I will say that I think some of the memes that have come out of the situation are absolutely hilarious, like people calling streamers by their ranking on the list. TimTheTatman, who now has a contract with YouTube Gaming, was still included on the leak because of his time spent on Twitch: he even started addressing himself as ‘number seven.’
All in all, if you think Twitch and the money it creates for people is a negative thing then just don’t partake. Don’t take away someone else’s fun.
Honestly, I’ll just vibe here and enjoy the chaos and try to make my way up the list.
