In the age of live-streaming, competition is ever-present.
A number of services such as Machinima and Mixer have come and gone over the years while heavy hitters such as Twitch, Facebook, and YouTube have prevailed. Now, a new live-streaming service has officially entered the ring and it has one of Twitch’s biggest content creators already in its corner.
Kick officially entered the boxing ring on Dec. 3 in beta mode, offering those who join several tantalizing features and a boatload of promises. Among the new faces already jumping ship is Trainwreck, the mega-popular Twitch streamer who has now declared himself a diehard Kicker (we just made that up).
Exactly what makes this app so appealing comes down to its features and, more importantly, its monetary compensation.
What is Kick and why has Trainwreck left Twitch for it?
On the surface, Kick’s interface looks almost identical to Twitch’s, but the real magic happens behind the scenes, at least according to Trainwreck, whose real name is Tyler Niknam.
On Dec. 3 Kick launched its beta version, and on the heels of that launch was the news that popular Twitch streamer, Trainwreck, was leaving the Amazon-owned service and taking with him his 2.1 million followers. According to him, Kick blows Twitch out of the water with it’s 95-5 subscriber revenue split. Twitch’s revenue split is 50-50 and YouTube’s is 70-30.
Additonally, Kick offers same-day payout for content creators and 100 percent of any tips they receive. Those numbers are huge in comparison to Twitch. If they hold true then it’s only a matter of time before more creators like Trainwreck begin jumping ship. He broke down the bigger picture for his fans and fellow content creators in a lengthy TwitLonger post, saying:
“I choose to work with Kick because their investors are willing to listen to creator input to make their platform better. Kick understands that a successful platform starts with a successful streamer. I’ve worked with their team already to create these benefits that no other platform has. These features will roll out in the near future:
– Everyone gets a sub button. 95%-5% subscriber split with 95% of all subscriber income going to the streamer.
– 100% of all tips made on Kick, called “kicks”, will go to the streamer. Same day withdrawal.
– An innovative new exclusive creator program that will pay our partners for their stream’s success. This program works like no partner program before. You won’t have to rely on your subscriber count alone every month. You’ll get a steady income based on hours watched and total viewers you stream to with an option to be paid out on the same day.
– A TOS designed to be fair to streamers with clear rules on what’s okay and not okay. No ambiguous bans. Kick’s current TOS will be completely updated. The new TOS will include rules governing ethical gambling. Fill balances must be disclosed. No wager locked giveaways, no code locked giveaways, and no lying to audiences regarding the reality of gambling’s losing nature.
– Plus many more features I will share on my next update via Twitter.
As of this writing, Kick has not officially confirmed Trainwreck’s facts and figures. It is currently busy “fixing bugs and dealing with the surge in traffic,” according to its official Twitter account. Whether or not the streaming service can outlast the popularity Trainwreck’s spotlight shined on it is another question entirely.
