The real humans at Kick striving to make a real difference
DexertoThere’s no denying Kick has a certain stigma around it. The streaming alternative perceived as being ‘edgier’ has long been in headlines for many of the wrong reasons, be it fostering toxicity, embracing contentious personalities, and the like. But in speaking with those steering the ship behind the scenes, it’s clear the real humans toiling away are hopeful of driving positive change across the industry.
When Kick burst onto the scene in 2022, it did so with a bang, not a whimper. Promoting less stringent moderation along with better revenue-sharing opportunities than rival platforms like Twitch, it quickly turned heads, attracting millions of viewers in a matter of months.
‘Could this upstart be the next big thing?’ many pondered. Well, not without some hardships first.
Established by the founders of online gambling company Stake, and heavily pushed by the most prolific gambling streamer Trainwreck, Kick created plenty of division. The platform brought over a number of controversial figures, even some banned on Twitch, such as Adin Ross, and from there, was embroiled in drama on a regular basis.
Be it certain streamers taking pranks too far, others outright committing crimes while live for all to see, or in-person events being upended by a few pesky individuals on the platform, it’s not always been positive press for the fledgling business. Some of the internet’s biggest stars have sworn off ever joining Kick in light of its surrounding struggles and turbulent reputation.
Through it all, Kick staff have slowly but surely been trying to get a lid on things. New moderation tools, new categories, staff speaking out in vehement disagreement with the actions of a vocal minority, updates and comments have been coming thick and fast in an effort to minimize the impact of bad eggs on the platform.
Now having talked with said staff directly, sitting down with eight Melbourne-based employees ranging from those on the Engineering team right the way up to a chat with Co-founder and CEO of Kick Ed Craven, it’s clear those working on Kick across its many disciplines all share one common goal.
While there’s plenty of noise getting in the way of the vision at times, Kick wants to be a benevolent alternative, enriching the streaming space and providing fruitful opportunities to smaller and mid-sized creators in a fight against Twitch’s monopoly.
DexertoLearning from an imperfect start
Kick’s CEO will be the first to admit its missteps. Craven, the late 20’s billionaire, emanates passion for his prized project but isn’t ashamed to acknowledge its shortcomings over the years.
“We went into the streaming industry thinking ‘This will be easy, just get streams up and running, bring creators over and the communities will follow, it’ll be a piece of cake.’ We quickly learned it’s far more complicated than that,” he said.
Growing up a hardcore Runescape player, Craven has known the gaming and entertainment space most of his life. After the immense success of Stake as an online gambling platform operating outside of his home country, he turned his sights to a new avenue of competition.
As not just a fan but an active participant in the industry, having streamed himself for over a decade, Craven would observe Twitch and often question their choices. “These decisions they’re making, why are they doing this?”
In establishing a new rival, Kick looked to take some market share away from the Amazon-backed juggernaut. At first, it did so by pushing the aforementioned moderation and revenue perks, though it was far from going to plan right out of the gate, he stressed.
“When we went into livestreaming, we wanted to be heavy on lower moderation and that was a big selling point. We quickly learned. That vision is definitely changing.
“We’ve certainly learned it’s more of a challenge than we first anticipated, but that’s a good thing. It’s made the project far more exciting.”
Kick: EddieCraven even admits he now understands why Twitch operated in certain ways when he was merely an outsider looking in. “Now we sit back and go ‘Okay, it makes a lot of sense,” he reflected with a laugh.
Recently, Kick introduced new AI moderation tools to further customize the chat experience for streamers looking to avoid any ‘edgier’ viewers on the platform.
Community first
Above all else, what rang true throughout Dexerto’s hours of conversations with Kick staff was their prioritization of the community. While there’s obviously the glossy talking point of having passed over “$100 million” in subscription payouts already, not even two years into the platform’s lifespan, as Craven told us, there’s far more happening under the surface to help push creators.
Engineers and those on the Tech team developing new features are in constant talks with streamers directly to help the platform grow. In fact, many ideas even come directly from those actively engaging on the platform.
One streamer asks for quicker payouts, Craven praises the idea, passes it through the right channels, and in a matter of days Kick has fundamentally changed its payout process. That’s just one example of recent efforts brought to life on the platform in short order.
“It’s not lip service,” as Head of Operations Ryan Webb put it. “Ed is the customer, he’s the streamer, he’s the viewer. He’s dialed in.
“He’ll be speaking to someone, doesn’t matter if they’re the CEO of the company or a streamer with 60 viewers, if they’ve got an idea, come Monday, we’ve spoken about it, we’re gonna do it.”
Pushing past the stigma
Most recently, Kick came under fire for the platform’s ties to some horrid actions at TwitchCon in America. A streamer who had already been banned from Kick was caught harassing Twitch personalities at the event.
Craven spoke up on the matter, claiming “the actions of a few individuals don’t reflect the broader platform, and multiple accounts have been suspended for violating our IRL streaming policies.”
Clearly, to this day, there’s no doubt a ton of work still left to be done to distinguish Kick from the bad actors who take up residence on the site, even if temporarily. It’s similar actions and the accompanying reputation that had Aussie streamer ‘heyimnatalia’ “super hesitant” to look into Kick in the first place.
Returning to the content creation grind after becoming a mum, Natalia was uncertain of where she should plant her flag. While Twitch was home long ago, her reach there was never enough to allow for the jump to full-time.
Eyeing Kick’s increased revenue sharing, she gradually made the switch in hopes of supporting her family from home. Streaming three hours on Twitch before a few over on Kick, in the very first month of trying the new method she could “quite comfortably” go full-time thanks to the new platform. Something she wasn’t previously able to accomplish over a decade of trying.
“It really opened up exactly what I needed at that time.”
“My lack of knowledge on what it actually meant to be a streamer on Kick, not knowing what that experience was actually like, held me back from taking the step. Now, genuinely, I’m so glad I did and I wish I had done it earlier. I would have been more comfortable much sooner.”
Is everything idyllic on Kick? Of course not, Natalia certainly has her gripes and argues they’re “a little late making changes,” but in looking past the brand’s stigma, she branched out to a new platform, dissociated from any of the bad actors making headlines, and quickly made a viable career from it.
Natalia’s story is one shared by dozens of smaller to mid-sized streamers who simply couldn’t make a living through Twitch.
“You’re a bigger fish in a smaller pond compared to the other way around,” she explained. “It was the best thing I could have done.”
Now “backing” the platform more than ever thanks to her regular talks with staff and even the CEO directly, Natalia hopes others follow her path and are able to look beyond the connotations of ‘being a Kick streamer.’
“I have no doubt things are going to get safer and more inclusive. I really hope that mindset shifts to it being a place people feel they can come without reservations.”
Head of Operations Ryan Webb echoed this sentiment, claiming “The biggest area we’re focusing on right now is trust and safety.”
“We’re starting to move a lot faster. You’re gonna see things coming up left, right, and center. Behind the scenes, we’re doing a lot.”
“There can only be one winner”
Approaching its two year anniversary, Kick is still in its infancy. Yet already it’s making more of a cultural impact than earlier Twitch competitors like the shortlived Mixer and the troubled Facebook Gaming.
Although Twitch and YouTube dominate the space with over 80% of the industry’s total market share, Kick has been steadily growing. Hundreds of millions of watch hours month over month, hundreds of new streamers diving in, it’s all heading in the right direction, Craven said, assuring his brand is preparing for a long battle.
Kick“Companies are out to make as much as possible. That’s what happens when a monopoly occurs. Our goal is… We can’t let that happen. We’ve got to compete.
“If Kick, for whatever reason, was not to succeed, people will end up looking back at the days they got 50% revenue splits and thinking those were good days.”
It’s not going to be an overnight shift given Twitch is deeply embedded as the go-to streaming platform and has been for many years. “It’s very difficult for there to be multiple players,” he admitted. “Mixer couldn’t survive, Facebook Gaming couldn’t survive…
“The way we look at it, there can only be one winner. For the time being, we’re a contender, we’re trying our best to compete with Twitch, but ultimately only one can win. I don’t think there’s a long-term world where you can have two major streaming platforms.
“Over time, one will end up outpacing the other, and I strongly believe that will be Kick. That’s the plan and that’s always been the plan.
“It’s up to us to challenge the competition, it’s what’s best for livestreaming in general.”