Imane Anys, who is more popularly known as Pokimane, rejected more lucrative offers from other streaming platforms to stay on Amazon-owned Twitch.
Twitch and Pokimane’s representatives from the United Talent Agency came to an agreement for a multi-year deal for her to exclusively stream on the platform, where she is one of the top 10 most-followed streamers.
Pokimane committed to Twitch after the departure of high-profile names to other streaming platforms, such as Shroud and Ninja who have both moved to Microsoft’s Mixer.
Pokimane revealed that she was staying with Twitch in a video uploaded to Twitter, accompanied by a YouTube video explaining her decision.
if you wanna know more about why i made this decision,
watch : https://t.co/fyilP8Wy8m 😁— pokimane (@pokimanelol) March 5, 2020
Pokimane revealed that she received offers for “life-changing money,” and that she was tempted to move to another streaming platform, but she decided to stay on Twitch for a variety of reasons, including the streaming delay on rival platforms, the Twitch community, and the lack of recognition of streamers on other platforms even if they achieve high viewership numbers.
The streamer also gave other streaming platforms a tip — instead of chasing after popular streamers to sign up with them, they should be investing in a feature similar to Twitch’s live chat.
“I can’t imagine streaming without it, I think it would be a lot more boring. I’d rather take less money to have more fun, to be happier, to stay with my community, and still feel like I’m where everything started, and where I feel like I belong.”
Pokimane’s decision to stay with Twitch, where she believes she will have more fun, echoes advice that she gave to new Fortnite players in an interview with Digital Trends at E3 2018.
“Whatever game you’re playing, just play for fun. Find some friends to join you. Having fun, at the end of the day, is the most important thing,” she said.
Twitch remains the king of streaming, though the likes of Mixer, Facebook Gaming, and YouTube Gaming are investing resources to try to catch up. It remains to be seen if Mixer’s strategy of signing big names will pay off, but with Halo Infinite for the upcoming Xbox Series X, and former pro Halo player Ninja onboard, success could be on the horizon.
