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 off the Amazon-owned platform and onto newcomer Kick. Kick, which calls itself a “creator-friendly” platform, offered Lengyel a $100 million deal. Siragusa’s contract details have not been disclosed, but as one of Twitch’s most popular streamers, she’s surely getting a major contract.

Lengyel & Siragusa Join the Likes of Fortnite streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura on the new streaming platform. Kick doesn’t currently have Twitch’s viewership numbers, but pulling in Lengyel and Siragusa, who each have millions of subscribers across a variety of platforms, will surely have an impact. Lengyel and Siragusa each have more than 67,000 followers at the time this article was written. And while Lengyel’s contract with Kick is non-exclusive, Twitch policies do not allow partners to stream simultaneously on multiple platforms, which means more time spent on Kick would leave less time for livestreaming on Twitch.

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

Lengyel, Siragusa and others are moving from Twitch to Kick. Amazon’s platform is still dealing with the discontent of its creators over its policies regarding revenue sharing. In June, Twitch announced and quickly backpedaled on a new policy regarding branded content before unveiling its new “Partner Plus” program, which outlines how streamers can up their share of subscription revenue. Kick is looking to offer a better deal, giving streamers 95% of subscriber revenue, compared to Twitch’s 50/50 or 70/30 splits, according to a Twitlonger post by Nikman. (Streamers have criticized Twitch’s tiered system, which offers better revenue splits for creators with a larger number of followers.)

But there’s a lot we don’t know about Kick; lots of its programs and policies are not available online just yet. A lot of critics and skeptics are also warning streamers not to put all their eggs in one basket. There have been many platforms that were tied together with large streamers and they’ve lived and died before. Let’s get into it.

What is Kicking?

Kick is an online streaming platform. Kick functions a bit like Twitch. Viewers can also chat while watching the video. There’s space for saved videosThe following are some examples of how to get started: clips, too. On the “Browse” page, there are categories that help creators get discovered: gambling, chatting, creative, and categories for different games, like Fortnite and Grand Theft Auto 5. Kick has a smaller audience right now.

Notably, 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 policies in October 2022 to ban streaming gambling sites including slots, roulette, or dice games that aren’t licensed in the U.S. or don’t provide “sufficient consumer protection,” after prominent streamers started the #TwitchStopGambling hashtag earlier that year.

As with Twitch you have to be an affiliate in order to receive payment from Kick. Kick streamers who have more than 75 subscribers and at least five streaming hours can achieve affiliate status. Kick pays streamers a 100% share of their subscription revenues after all fees. This is roughly $4.56 a sub. Streamers get paid every one to four weeks, according to Kick’s subscriptions guide. It’s not clear when Kick will move to the subscription model Nikman outlined.

Kick is a popular game among fans, but what do they think of it?

Kick is new, and some critics think it’s too early and untested to bring on big streamers. Dexerto claims that Lengyel said this after Twitch’s staffer allegedly stated Kick had to first focus on the building of its product. (Nikman, too, posted earlier this year that Kick was choosing to invest in “all creators” instead of “spend[ing] millions of dollars acquiring large streamers exclusively.” The company seems to be moving beyond that statement now.)

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.

Graham and Kick’s skeptics have been concerned about the lack of transparency surrounding Kick. Polygon reached out Tyler Nikman to clarify the story and will update it when he replies.

What does it mean for Twitch users?

It’s early to say what this means for Twitch’s long-term success; however, it’s significant that Kick managed to court Twitch’s top male and female streamers. It’s yet another bit of bad news for the company, which has dealt with PR fallout from the way it has handled hate raids, gambling, and revenue split policies — all of which have upset creators.