As the race to become the top streaming platform continues, Twitch has just announced new exclusivity deals in the ongoing bidding wars for popular video game streamers.
Announced Tuesday afternoon, streamers Ben “DrLupo” Lupo, Saqib “LIRIK” Zahid, and Timothy “TimTheTatman” Betar have all agreed to new multi-year exclusivity deals with Twitch. Though official terms of the agreements have not yet been disclosed, the move by Twitch will help retain their audience after other popular streamers have recently left the platform.
With a combined 10.36 million followers between the three streamers, the new deal will certainly help as Twitch fights off competitors by the likes of Facebook Gaming, Mixer, and YouTube. Twitch’s senior Vice President of content and partnerships Mike Aragon expressed his excitement for the new partnership and hopes to continue to invest in the three streamers “so they can continue to build on that success in the future.” TimTheTatman also spoke of his delight of the new deal during his most recent stream saying that it “ultimately felt right to stay on Twitch.”
The new agreement is certainly a win-win for all parties involved in the new deal. DrLupo, LIRIK, and TimTheTatman will not only receive a nice paycheck, but will also get to keep their fans in one place while Twitch can breathe a sigh of relief in the new streaming wars. The new contract also marks success for Loaded, the management company for all three streamers which also oversaw Tyler “Ninja” Blevins' transition to Microsoft’s Mixer.
Twitch has recently come under fire after banning popular streamers Corinna Kopf and PayMoneyWubby for seemingly odd reasons. Kopf was banned from the platform for two days after Twitch mistook her clothing for ‘undergarments’ while PayMoneyWubby received a five-day ban without receiving any official correspondence. Twitch later confirmed the ban was a mistake in what PayMoneyWubby called “very matter-of-fact” and “lacking sincerity.”
While it’s been an unprecedented year for the streaming community, 2020 is shaping up to be even more groundbreaking. Though Twitch may not want to admit it has new competition in the streaming industry with 75.6% ownership of the streaming market, this new exclusivity deal confirms it is at least aware of it. It will be interesting to see which gamers stick with Twitch in hopes of receiving similar deals in the future.
Source: The Verge