Apex Legends pro Mande calls out Twitch over “scam” earnings

During an Apex Legends stream, Mande discovered how little he was earning via Twitch ads compared to his less popular peers, who were apparently making around twice as much as he did – despite having far less viewers on average.

Twitch streaming is seen as a lucrative career, where popularity and riches are assumed to go hand in hand. The more viewers a streamer has, the more they’re assumed to earn. This sentiment rings true quite often, especially when comparing streamers involved in the same community.

But for Mikkel “Mande” Hestbek, a professional Apex Legends player and streamer, this apparently is not the case.

Apex Legends pro compares Twitch earnings with colleagues

The topic of Twitch ad earnings came up during Mande’s Apex Legends live broadcast. One of his colleagues assumed the professional brought in over $100,000 a month from Twitch ads.

Mande quickly refuted the point. “Dude, dude, I am not American. I spoke to people in NA, and they said they make three times as much as me off of ads, and they have half my viewership.”

The group of gamers then compared their Twitch earnings directly with one another.

“You must be smoking the fat cr*ck,” he joked, completely in disbelief of the money his teammates were earning.

“Wait bro, you don’t make anything,” his colleague exclaimed, shocked to discover they earned far more than Mande through ads.

“That’s what I’m saying! I’m not American,” Mande repeated over and over, attempting to cope with his newfound knowledge. “He streamed 100 hours less than me, and made two times as much as me with a third of my average viewers. That is f**king insane, what are those numbers.”

More viewers, less money

According to streamcharts, Mande averaged around 4800 viewers during nearing this time, and boasted over 340,000 followers on Twitch. But despite his popularity, he apparently made far less than his US based contemporaries – likely due to regulations on the streaming platform.

streamscharts

“I know I was getting scammed, but I didn’t know I was getting scammed that hard,” Mande stated after calming down from his initial shock.

Though the professional Apex Legends player didn’t reveal the exact numbers, a TikToker goes into her exact earnings through both TikTok and YouTube payouts, providing more transparency on social media income.