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Posted on: June 21, 2023, 07:00h.
Last updated on: June 21, 2023, 10:28h.
Kick.com, the up-and-coming streaming platform that wants to take down Twitch, is running into trouble. Even as it spends hundreds of millions of dollars to attract some of its rival’s top talent, gambling content has led Greece to add it to its list of unwelcome online platforms.
When Amazon-owned Twitch started running into trouble with some of its top performers amid calls for a ban on gambling content, the number-one streaming platform agreed to back off. Its approach, however, was met with a great deal of skepticism, especially after its new anti-gambling policies did little to change the environment.
The shift gave rise to Kick.com, backed by Stake.com and its founders, Ed Craven, and Bijan Tehrani. Kick promised greater flexibility and a looser wallet for content providers. But its meteoric rise could burn out quickly.
What Goes Up
While Stake.com facilitates live gambling and is the owner and founder of the website, Kick doesn’t present itself as a gambling website. However, it allows gambling content, and one of its biggest ambassadors – and a coowner – is former Twitch streamer Trainwreckstv.
The popular online personality, whose real name is Tyler Faraz Niknam, has bragged about making $360 million through his gambling content on Twitch. That was before he made the jump to Kick.com, so it’s easy to conclude that Kick is betting on gambling to help it dethrone its rival.
A YouTube personality, n3lswn, posted this week about a Greek user’s attempt to access Kick.com’s main page. The attempt was futile, as the page appeared to be blocked.
A review of the Hellenic Gaming Commission’s gaming blacklist confirms it has listed the site for exclusion. It specifically highlights the platform’s “Slots Gang” section, although it appears the entire site has been blocked. The latest update to the list was on June 20.
In comments shared with Casino.org, Kick stated, “Kick is the most exciting and growing livestreaming platform, providing a wide range of content to a wide range of users. We are experiencing a temporary problem with access to the platform in Greece, and we are working with Greek ISPs to resolve the issue. An individual channel appears to have been blocked by a specific ISP, resulting in the whole domain mistakingly being blocked.”
The recent emphasis that has been placed on streaming platforms in France and Brazil, as well as in certain states in the US, could bring more changes. More jurisdictions are forcing streamers to be held accountable for their content, which will result in more regulations being applied to the market.
The Bottomless Wallet
Stake.com has been at the center of several controversies on Twitch, where it had spent years doing aggressive promotions to attract an audience. The most famous was with Canadian music artist Drake, who was signed to play live online roulette while it was broadcast on Twitch.
It did the same with streamers, the most notorious of whom was xQc. After several controversies over his gambling activity, xQc even took time away from Twitch. He returned later, and continued to spend hundreds of millions of dollars, acknowledging that he had a gambling problem.
Kick.com has now grabbed xQc to be one of its primary attractions. In what is likely the largest streaming agreement ever, it offered him a $70-million contract and $30 million in incentives to sign up. With about 12 million followers, the Canadian, also known by his real name Félix Lengyel, didn’t waste any time.
IT’S TIME pic.twitter.com/HyKlZrggRr
— Amouranth (@Amouranth) June 17, 2023
That was just the beginning. Shortly after, Kick reportedly offered another popular Twitch streamer, Amouranth, a similar deal, but the exact amount is unknown.
The Streaming Battle is On
Kick.com (and Craven and Tehrani) seems determined to dismantle Twitch at any cost. In addition to the highly lucrative deals with xQc and Amouranth, it is also taking a smaller cut of earnings.
Twitch, depending on the level of success of the streamer, can receive as much as 50% of the revenue. Kick.com only wants 5% of the earnings that come through subscriptions.
It still has a long way to go to catch its rival, though. Twitch has around 31 million daily views, while according to StreamCharts.com, Kick.com only has an average of 138,834.
Twitch wants to make sure it doesn’t lose any ground. It has a solid position now, but realizes that things could change. In order to help it retain its position and appeal to more netizens, Twitch recently announced that it will introduce new labels for its channels.
These labels, which are mandatory, will identify mature content, such as that of a sexual nature or drugs. A content classification system has existed for a long time, but the update clarifies how streamers can control it.
Twitch will also begin to label gambling content as mature, which could be a possible sign that it’s going to relax its anti-gambling stance.
In what could be seen as a bit of irony, Twitch (or maybe just Amazon) should hope that Kick succeeds. This is because the platform uses Amazon Web Services and its Interactive Video Service to run.
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