When people think of Twitch, the platform is often associated with gaming and gamers. Many think of Ninja and Fortnite, charity gaming events like Awesome Games Done Quick, or any of the big-name streamers playing Call of Duty: Warzone. But Twitch got its start as Justin.tv, a website that was solely focused on following one of its co-creators, Justin Kan, around 24/7 recording his daily life. The original spirit of Twitch has been revived with Ludwig's never-ending stream, which is generating some substantial money for the streamer.
Ludwig Ahgren has been streaming for over a week straight after setting up a sub-a-thon event where each new sub to his channel would add 10 seconds to a countdown timer. The stream will end when the timer reaches zero, but thanks to overwhelming support from fans and curious onlookers drawn in by the story, Ludwig's stream is still going strong with 45 hours left on the timer, though that number is holding at this time.
With that said, Ludwig's stream has become a phenomenon. Viewership is in the tens of thousands, even when he is sleeping, and Ludwig has become the most subbed channel on Twitch, which means some big dollars. Fans have been compiling the data on Ludwig's sub-a-thon, and at this time the amount of money earned from subs, bits, and media shares is an astonishing $424,071 USD. This does not include the ad revenue generated from the stream or any outside money earned. The data also attempts to forecast how long the stream will go, with a current estimate that it will last 5 more days, for a total of 332 hours.
It is hard enough for most streamers to consistently put in the hours required to be on top of the streaming game, with burnout all too common. World of Warcraft streamer Asmongold took a few months off after getting tired of the grind, before making a return recently. To put on a stream with what must feel like no end is essentially like living in the movie The Truman Show.
Twitch is a place where anything can happen, so long as there are people with cameras wanting to share, and people with a screen wanting to watch. There was even a spike in chess-focused channels on Twitch after The Queen's Gambit aired on Netflix. Eventually, Ludwig's stream will end, but it has been an impressive ride, and someone will undoubtedly try and best his sub-a-thon in the future.
Source: Google Docs