The Business: The Twitch Leak Proves Streaming Is A Mature Scene Now

The other day there was a massive data breach at Twitch. Virtual Legality explains.

For most, the real info was the revealed payouts from 2019 to the present was the news-generator as it exposed as fact what was popularly believed by many.

That belief being that, like OldPub, the bulk of the revenue goes to a very small number of very popular channels. Unlike OldPub, there is a persistent midlist that continues to make a living as a Twitch streamer from Twitch-specific sources, subscriptions and Bits, alone. That revenue doesn't include sponsorships, merchandise, donations, or anything else external to Twitch's specific revenue sharing systems for its streamers.

What I should point out, for those unused to this business, is that this is a live entertainment business. That means two things: (1) it is a popularity-driven business so the bulk of revenue payouts going to a very small cohort should not surprise anyone, and (2) revenue is mostly volatile because people have no problems abandoning channels that go dark for any length of time.

TLDR: Making $3 million dollars between 2019 and the present may not be that impressive because we are not privy to what is lost to taxation, what costs that revenue covers, what the smarter streamers bank away to cover for emergencies or Black Swan events, etc. as they can't rely on government support so readily.

This also means that Critical Role's $9.6 million or so may not be that big after covering taxes, payroll (they have a production crew), location/facilities costs (they film in a studio), and so on because that revenue is for an actual corporation and not a few gamers palling around a table for shits and giggles hoping to cover gas, pizza, and beer.

Conversely, solo streamers playing a popular game from a country with lower-than-US living costs (like Zepla, the Bunny Queen of Final Fantasy XIV) can easily make her $40K or so work if she shares costs, lives cheap, has sufficient revenue related to her stream outside of Twitch, or has a part-time job other than streaming.

In other words, people freaking out need to chill and wait for context.

It's one thing to shit on champagne socialists like Hasan because he's rolling in dough and living large while pushing Commie bullshit for the plebs, especially the simps that fork over their cash to him in a misguided sense of buying absolution from a Death Cult priest. Meanwhile professional neckbeard Asmongold is taking the $2.5-3 million he's got and uses it to take care of his ailing mother and see that she's secure in her home; one of the nicest gals on Twitch, Dizzykitten, has made similar money and does similar things with it. The difference is context, and folks freaking out about the money are forgetting it.

It's not about the money. It's about (a) how they got it and (b) what they do with it. The money is a means to an end, a tool, and nothing more.

This is a developing story, and I would like folks to not lose their shit as more details come out- and they will.

Now, what does this mean for folks wanting to get into streaming now?

Don't.

This is a mature scene now. Had you come in 10 years ago, as many on the top did, you'd stand a chance to be on top with a competent show and a persistant presence in a popular game. Just like YouTube, you ain't going to the top now unless--like Critical Role--you come in with a significant backer, inside connections, a new niche to exploit, or (ideally) a combination of those factors. Streaming, for anyone with a clue, is no longer the end.

It is, instead, a means to another end; it is there as, in time, a self-supporting promotional avenue for something else. This is how the game publishers use Twitch, such as Asmodee Digital; it is also now Nick Cole uses it to boost Galaxy's Edge and Forgotten Ruin. If you approach streaming that way, as part of a bigger plan (as you should with YouTube now), then you will find success. If you just want to be a dancing monkey and collect fat sacks of cash, that window is shut.

That's how mature scenes work, and this leak shows that Twitch has matured. The frontier is closed here. You'll have to go elsewhere to build your online stronghold.