How does Pokimane make money? Breaking down the popular creator’s income streams

Imane Anys, largely known as Pokimane online, is a major player in the world of digital entertainment and with that comes plenty of opportunities to make money.

Named the highest-earning woman on Twitch in 2020, Pokimane has amassed 7.5m followers on Twitch at the time of writing. From her modest days in League of Legends to playing Among Us with policitian Alexandria ‘AOC’ Ocasio-Cortez, she’s had quite the rise over the years.

As per the current state of online content creation, the top 0.1% of creators can rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars each and every month. That’s no different for the OfflineTV member.

Even going as far as to turn down a multi-million-dollar deal, Pokimane is generating a hefty sum of money through streaming video games and uploading videos with other top creators. Here’s Pokimane’s net worth and how she’s monetizing her viewers.

What is Pokimane’s net worth?

As of February 2019, Pokimane’s net worth was apparently less than $2m — this came straight from the source. However, with her popularity surging and the aforementioned income streams she’s developed, she’s likely well-eclipsed that by now.

How Pokimane makes money

Content and OfflineTV

In the midst of the “streaming war” between Twitch, Mixer, and YouTube in early 2020, Pokimane signed an exclusive deal with the Amazon-owned streaming platform. The multi-year deal will have secured her a life-changing amount of money for the foreseeable future, allowing her to concentrate on creating content that truly interests her instead of ever having to chase viewers (and, thus, money).

• Read More: How does Valkyrae make money?

Twitch have a couple of revenue-generating features which Pokimane utilizes. Interestingly, she capped the amount of money that viewers could donate in November 2020. Though they can still subscribe for $5 (of which she roughly receives half), enthusiastic supporters can only donate up to that amount. She explained that any amount over $5 was “unnecessary” and instead suggested they donate to charities and less-popular channels.

Advertisements, subscriptions, and capped donations will all amount to a significant monthly figure nonetheless due to the sheer amount of followers she’s amassed over the years.

YouTube is a great platform for Pokimane, too. On her main channel, she uploads gameplay and reaction videos and receives over 1 million views on almost every upload. She’s diversified her content across numerous channels, allowing for fanatics to engage with a variety of content but always creating new means of discovery. She has a personal channel, a now-defunct (and once-popular) ASMR channel, a channel for stream highlights, and another that houses her stream VODs.

Adverts from her videos can make her plenty of money, especially considering the amount of views she accrues, and it’s also worth noting that different topics command distinct advertisement rates. Though she receives less views on her secondary channels, a higher ad rate could well produce a higher payout than better-viewed videos on her main channel.

Pokimane is well-known for being part of OfflineTV, a group of content creators based in California, U.S. They regularly upload videos on YouTube, they produce a weekly podcast that can generate revenue through advertisements, and they have a merchandise line. It’s reasonable to assume she gets a proportionate cut of all proceeds that the five-person-team raises.

Merchandise and deals

Pokimane joined Cloak, the clothing brand launched by legendary creators Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, in June 2020. Joining as its creative director, she’s forgoing the usual route of merchandise to instead have a role in another company. The line is marketed as being “for gamers, by gamers.” Her involvement with the brand will no doubt allow her to command a notable sum, especially considering she could make thousands of dollars each month with a low-effort apparel effort of her own.

• Read More: How does Logan Paul make money?

Sponsorships and brand deals are among the primary sources of income for many top content creators and Pokimane is also afforded that opportunity. She’s comfortable with the money she generates through her content, however, and thus is very selective about who she works with. So much so that she claims to have turned down a $3m sponsorship deal in early 2020.

Still, she has worked with the likes of CashApp, HyperX, and Postmates in the past, choosing to collaborate with brands and companies that align with her interests and her content strategy.

As her first act of expanding into a traditional sector of entertainment, she’s set to appear in a movie. Alongside the likes of Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins and Lannan ‘Lazarbeam’ Eacott, she will have an appearance in Ryan Reynolds’ Free Guy when it releases later in 2021.

• Read More: How does MrBeast make money?

The jury is out on whether the popular creator will follow in the footsteps of Valkyrae and Addison Rae by expanding into other areas of entertainment, though it’s clear she has a legion of loyal fans who’d like support her throughout any and all ventures into the unknown.