The Twitch exodus: Why streamers are leaving the platform and what it means for the future of streaming

The streaming community has recently been bombarded with one simple question: Why are Twitch streamers moving to YouTube?

The shift began with TimTheTatman, who had announced his departure from Twitch via a post on Twitter. He streamed his first-ever YouTube live stream on September 2.

the futurehttps://t.co/Hz9YZ0m2EA pic.twitter.com/ekGwDreHOL

— timthetatman👑 (@timthetatman) September 1, 2021

Many other prominent Twitch streamers, such as DrLupo and Valkyrae, have followed TimTheTatman over to the red halls of YouTube. However, with the departure of such big names, the natural question to arise is why Twitch streamers are moving to YouTube.

Valkyrae and DrLupo very honestly answered this question in their streams, giving a very clear reason for their departures.

---

There is a straightforward reason why Twitch streamers are moving to YouTube

To answer the question very simply, DrLupo and Valkyrae both stated money as the primary motivating factor behind the shift from Twitch to YouTube. The former was quite frank that just like everybody else, he was also trying to "secure the bag", and since YouTube's deal seemed more lucrative to him, he made the switch.

"Everybody's just trying to secure the bag, right? There's no shame in that. That's literally why everybody gets up and goes to work, right? So, of course, the financial situation that YouTube presented me without a doubt is like, you know, I'm secure for life. Everybody's trying to get to that point. Why would I say no to that?"

Similarly, Valkyrae stated that her not having to worry about viewers and donations for every stream would let her focus more on the content she produces. Therefore, she could venture into other streaming fields like fashion and fitness, which she has desired for some time. So, shifting to YouTube seemed logical to her.

---

What does this indicate about the future of Twitch?

Twitch has been in a lot of negative light lately. With prominent streamers quitting and the decimating effect of #ADayOffTwitch, which saw thousands of Twitch streamers abandon the platform for a day due to hate-raids against marginalized Twitch streamers, things have not been good for the company.

Naturally, a question arises about the future of the Amazon-owned platform. While the impact will be significant, it will probably not take too much of a hit since ardent fans will simply find a new favorite Twitch streamer.

As far as streaming is concerned, Twitch is definitely still a better platform. Interestingly, this view is held by Dr. DisRespect, who received a permanent ban from Twitch in 2020 and has been streaming on YouTube ever since.

Viewers can hear the Doc state his opinion regarding the matter from 34:03 in the following video:

YouTube still has much work to do to match up to the standards of Twitch in terms of streaming. However, with a slew of the latter's streamers changing their allegiance from purple to red, only time will tell who the next Twitch streamer to make the switch will be.