xQc's "$100 Million" Kick Deal

About

xQc's "$100 Million" Kick Deal refers to streamer and former esports player xQc signing a non-exclusive two-year deal with the streaming website Kick in June 2023 after its competitor Twitch introduced its controversial new revenue split system. Reactions to xQc's deal included comments on the increasing competition between Twitch and Kick (the latter of which hosts controversial streamers like Adin Ross). xQc's decision to stream almost the entirety of The Dark Knight during his first stream on Kick also drew attention from fans due to it being a potential DMCA violation.

Background

In September 2022, Twitch announced a controversial new advertising revenue split with their creators that would force streamers to share their profits 50-50 instead of 70-30 with the video streaming platform. In June 2023, Twitch debuted and subsequently rolled back new advertising guidelines that would limit the way creators could show branded content on stream, stifling some sponsorship opportunities for streamers and sparking backlash.

On June 16th, 2023, Dexerto published a tweet^[1] noting that xQc's account on Kick^[7] had gained a "subscribe" button, with various fans speculating as to whether this indicates a move from Twitch to Kick on xQc's part. On June 16th, xQc then posted a video^[2] announcing his move to Kick, gathering over 6.5 million views and 92,000 likes in four days (seen below).

Developments

On June 16th, 2023, the New York Times published an article in which xQc and his manager revealed the details of his two-year deal with Kick, which would give xQc $70 million dollars with incentives that could drive the deal up to $100 million.^[3] Despite some sources^[4] claiming that this is one of the largest sports contracts ever, xQc's annual guaranteed take-home income from the deal is purportedly only $35 million.

On June 16th, xQc hosted his first stream on Kick, with various internet users noting the breakneck speed of his Kick chat. Twitter^[5] user @VirtualGemma_ posted a video of the chat, gathering over 7,000 likes in four days (seen below).

Thought I’d check out @xQc first Kick stream. His chat was a really interesting read. pic.twitter.com/kZY7gHatcI

— Gemma | VG (@VirtualGemma_) June 16, 2023

On June 18th, Twitter^[6] user @xaviersonline_ posted a series of screenshots showing Kick users spamming slurs in xQc's chat, gathering over 28,000 likes in two days (seen below).

you have to be retarded to think this https://t.co/LdgIQWQ9zy pic.twitter.com/nWiBtLuiJV

— Xavier’s Online (Second Phase) (@xaviersonline_) June 19, 2023

xQc Streaming The Dark Knight

On June 19th, 2023, xQc hosted a stream on Kick in which he began to stream the Batman movie The Dark Knight in its entirety. The YouTube^[8] account xQc clips posted a section of the stream on June 19th, gathering 50,000 views in a day (seen below). xQc later had to stop the stream an hour into the movie after a Kick employee entered his chat and warned about the stream being a DMCA violation.

Later in the day on June 19th, Twitter^[9] user @JohnSwanYT posted a screenshot of the stream, gathering over 20,000 likes in a day (seen below, left). Also that day, Twitter^[10] user @OrdinaryGamers noted the risk xQc took by choosing to host an illegal stream, gathering over 28,000 likes in a day (seen below, right).

Search Interest

External References