Many streamers expanded their reach exponentially across platforms in 2023, with Twitch and YouTube losing their duopoly to up-and-coming streaming platforms like Kick and Rumble also establishing themselves more concretely. Twitch remains the mainstream hub of major stars like Pokimane, Asmongold, and Kai Cenat. However, many other big names have shifted platforms to Kick, withAdin Ross becoming the face of the platform, xQc reportedly scoring a $100 million deal with them, and Amouranth taking the leap as well.
In this article, we'll look at the biggest streamers on Twitch, YouTube, Kick, and Rumble in 2023, as well as some relevant statistics.
Note: Statistical data for this article has been sourced from Streamerscharts, Social Blade, and Statista.
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Exploring the most popular streamers on Twitch, YouTube, Kick, and Rumble
Twitch: Kai Cenat
in the last few years, Kai Cenat has become one of the most popular streamers on Twitch, gaining immense popularity as a result of his major collaborations with big stars such as American comedian Druski, American rapper Offset, and even hip-hop icon Nicki Minaj.
In 2023, the streamer came up with ingenious ideas, starting trends within the streaming world, such as his 7 Days In simulated jail stream marathon. His reach is evident in the humongous peak viewership of 348,593 fans.
Kai Cenat was able to attain such a massive audience while focusing on Just Chatting content, with the streams from this genre making up for 68% of his total stream time. Further, he also streamed 11.4% while sleeping and played games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 and Fortnite.
This year has not been without controversy for Kai either. He was charged with inciting a riot due to his NYC meet-up taking a turn for the worse. He also had fallouts with fellow streamers such as BruceDropEmOff.
Honorable mention: xQc
Even after obtaining a $100 million non-exclusive deal with Kick, Félix "xQC' has continued to maintain a formidable presence on Twitch. Having been the top creator on Twitch for many years, Félix has shifted his focus from the purple platform to Kick. However, he still amassed a peak viewership of 126,238 and gained half a million followers.
YouTube: IShowSpeed
Unmatched in the streaming arena of YouTube, Darren "IShowSpeed" has seen an exponential rise in popularity in 2023. Even though the Cristiano Ronaldo superfan has been in the mainstream since 2020, he truly established himself as a significant icon of the W/L community this year.
Darren attained over 7.2 million subscribers this year on YouTube, going from 15 million followers in January 2023 to 22.2 million followers in December 2023. Further, he crossed the two billion video views mark this year.
The streamer had various big events this year, including visiting the Ballon d'Or Gala 2023, where he broke his all-time livestreaming record and had over 500,000 viewers watching him attend.
Honorable mention: DrDisRespect
Herschel "DrDisRespect" is a veteran creator who started on Twitch and became popular for his eccentric and entertaining online persona. The streamer was banned from Twitch in 2020 and shifted completely to YouTube not soon after.
The Doc has made strides in his YouTube career this year, attaining over 380,000 subscribers. Also, he gathered more than 150 million views on his content.
Kick: Adin Ross
Adin Ross has emerged as the poster child of Kick, shifting to the platform in February 2023 after getting permanently banned from Twitch. Within a year of shifting platforms, the content creator gathered over 857,000 followers on Kick, and he achieved an all-time streaming record of 333,506 on September 20, 2023.
The contentious streamer, whose content is mostly focused on Just Chatting and Slots & Casino streams, has also played games like Fortnite and Red Dead Redemption 2. He was watched for a total of 63.9 million hours this year.
Drama seems to follow Adin everywhere he goes, as he has racked up a list of problematic encounters with other streamers this year, including incidents with Cheesur and N3on.
Honorable mention: Sam Pepper
Sam Pepper is a controversial long-time YouTuber-turned-streamer who has amassed a significant following on Kick with his IRL vlogs and frequent collaborations with other big names, such as Ice Poseidon.
On October 21 of this year, Sam was in the headlines yet again after he made huge allegations against Suspendas, stating that Suspendas influenced late-streamer Vexxed to consume drugs.
He was the third most watched English-speaking channel on Kick for the last week of December. On the other hand, he attained the fifth spot in the top Kick streamers of the fourth week of December 2023, as per Streams Charts.
Rumble: TateSpeech by AndrewTate
Rumble is a platform that gained popularity mostly during 2020 due to the prominence of conservative commentators and politicians. Since then, the platform's focus on free speech has attracted Republican creators and audiences as well. In 2023, Rumble was granted exclusive rights to provide the online stream of the Republican presidential primary debates.
However, Rumble's popularity this year was also attributed to red-pill proponent Andrew Tate's podcast TateSpeech, which recorded a peak viewership of 433,000 in 2023.
Andrew Tate is an American-British influencer and internet star. He is well-versed in the streaming experience, having collaborated with other streamers, such as AdinRoss and N3on. After being arrested in his hometown of Romania and then placed under house arrest, Andrew was released on August 4, 2023.
Honorable mention: The Kai N' Speed Show
The Kai N' Speed show, which was a collaboration of the two streaming megastars Kai Cenat and Darren "IShowSpeed" managed to attain a peak viewership of 308,000 this year in June on Rumble, coming in right behind TateSpeech.
Kai Cenat and Speed brought together their massive audiences to their series, where they stream in a three-hour-long collaborative broadcast. Kai Cenat has a Twitch following of nearly 8.5 million, whereas Darren has a whopping 22.2 million subscribers on YouTube.
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