What is Kick, the new platform Amouranth and xQc are streaming on?

Two of Twitch’s biggest stars – Félix “xQc” Lengyel and Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa – are moving from the Amazon platform to newcomer Kick. Kick, which calls itself a “creator-friendly” platform, offered Lengyel a $100 million deal. Siragusa’s contract details haven’t been revealed, but as one of Twitch’s most popular streamers, she’s sure to get a big contract.

Lengyel and Siragusa join people like Fortnite streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura on the new streaming platform. Kick doesn’t currently have the ratings of Twitch, but bringing in Lengyel and Siragusa, who each have millions of subscribers across different platforms, will certainly make an impact. (As of this writing, Lengyel has over 304,000 followers on Kick and Siragusa has 67,000.) And while Lengyel’s contract with Kick is non-exclusive, Twitch policy does not allow partners to stream on multiple platforms at the same timemeaning more time spent on Kick leaves less time for live streaming on Twitch.

Currently, Kick’s largest streaming category is gambling content, which makes sense given the company’s backing: Kick was co-founded by Tyler “Trainwreck” Nikman, a gaming and gambling streamer, and gambling site Stake co-founder Ed Craven. That reports the New York Times the streaming platform is supported by Australian gambling sites Easygo Gaming and stake.com.

Lengyel and Siragusa are leaving Twitch for Kick as the Amazon platform continues to face discontent among its creators, especially over its revenue-sharing policies. In June, Twitch announced a new branded content policy and quickly backtracked before revealing it new “Partner Plus” program, describing how streamers can increase their share of subscription revenue. Kick is looking for a better deal, giving streamers 95% of subscriber revenue, compared to Twitch’s 50/50 or 70/30 splits, according to a Twitlonger post from Nikman. (Streamers have criticized Twitch’s tiered system, which offers better revenue splits for creators with a larger following.)

But there’s a lot we don’t know about Kick; many of its programs and policies are not yet available online. There are also many skeptics and critics warning streamers not to throw everything on an untested platform; platforms strapped with big streamers have lived and died many times before. Let’s get into it.

What is Kick?

Kick is a streaming platform. Functionally, Kick is very similar to Twitch. In addition to the streaming video, viewers can chat. There is also space for saved videos and clips. The ‘Browse’ page lists categories for creators to discover: gambling, chat, creative, and categories for different games, such as Fortnite And Grand Theft Auto 5. The big difference at the moment is that there are simply fewer viewers on Kick.

In particular, Kick’s popular gambling category is displayed on the front page of the site, with subcategories for “Slots & Casino” and “Poker”. Gambling has been a source of controversy among Twitch streamers. Twitch updated its gambling policy in October 2022 to ban streaming gambling sites, including slots, roulette or dice games which are not licensed in the US or don’t offer “adequate consumer protection”, after prominent streamers started the #TwitchStopGambling hashtag earlier that year.

To get paid by Kick, you need to become an affiliate, just like Twitch. Kickstreamers can gain affiliate status by streaming for at least five hours and having more than 75 followers. Currently, Kick gives its streamers 100% of subscription revenue after fees, so about $4.56 per subscription. Streamers get paid every one to four weeks, according to the company Kick’s subscription guide. It is not clear when Kick will switch to the subscription model that Nikman outlined.

What do fans and creators think of Kick?

Kick is new and some critics believe it is too early and untested to launch major streamers. Lengyel addressed this during the stream after a Twitch employee reportedly remarked that Kick should focus on building the product first. according to Dexerto. (Nikman too, posted earlier this year that Kick chose to invest in ‘all creators’ rather than ‘spend'[ing] millions of dollars excluding acquiring major streamers.” The company now appears to be moving beyond that statement.)

Marcus “djWHEAT” Graham, a former longtime Twitch employee and former head of creator development, called Kick a “sham” in December.. “So many things don’t add up,” he said.

The lack of transparency around the platform was a red flag for Graham and other Kick skeptics. Polygon has reached out to Tyler Nikman for clarification and will update the story when he responds.

What does this mean for Twitch?

It’s still early to say what this means for Twitch’s long-term success; however, it is significant that Kick managed to woo Twitch’s top male and female streamers. It’s another bit of bad news for the company, which has suffered a PR backlash over how it’s handled hate attacks, gambling, and revenue-sharing policies — all of which have left creators upset.