Twitch CEO explains why Kick made a mistake poaching its biggest streamers

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy thinks that Kick is making a mistake trying to take streamers from the Amazon-owned platform and those that do leave will end up returning.

Since it launched in 2022, Kick has continued to bring streamers over to the platform that already had a sizeable following on Twitch.

xQc, Amouranth, and Adin Ross are among the biggest names that have moved from Twitch to Kick since its launch.

On June 13, 2024, Clancy said in an interview with Twitch streamer NateGentile7 that he thinks Kick is making a mistake by taking major streamers from the Amazon-owned platform instead of growing the industry — and says the big hitters will return to Twitch eventually.

“All of our problems is that live streaming isn’t big enough, we need live streaming to grow.” he said. “It’s no secret where [Kick’s] money comes from but the question is how long-term stable is that and what are they in it for.”

Clancy also compared Kick to TikTok and how the latter “doesn’t try” to take Twitch’s streamers. “They try to get new people streaming,” he said. “I think it is a complete mistake to say, ‘The live stream market is fixed, I’m just going to take what the other guy has.’

“And then as soon as [Kick] stops paying them, they’re going to come right back. That happened with Mixer, that happened with YouTube. They were paid, and then they came right back,” he added.

So, instead of worrying about Kick, Clancy says he’s focused on adding features to help the streamers on Twitch grow.

Throughout 2023 and the beginning of 2024, Twitch has added more features giving streamers the ability to share their content both on Twitch and on short-form video platforms like TikTok and Instagram reels.

In September 2023, Twitch added the ability to make vertical clips directly from the streamer’s dashboard and you can even export them directly to TikTok. In May 2024, Twitch revamped the mobile app to focus on vertical clips from your favorite streamers by putting them front and center as soon as you opened the app.