Kick (Streaming Platform)

About

Kick is an online streaming platform similar to Twitch that allows users to stream gaming, IRL, just chatting and gambling content. The platform gained viral attention in December 2022 after gambling streamer Trainwreckstv announced that he'd become a non-owner advisor and non-exclusive broadcaster on the site. Shortly after the announcement, information surfaced that suggests Kick is a Stake.com project, a crypto gambling website that was banned from Twitch when Twitch banned gambling from the site in September 2022.

History

Kick.com, also available at kick.live, was opened sometime around October 2022 and started to gain a following in November of that year. For example, on November 19th, 2022, Twitter^[1] user and Stake co-founder @StakeEddie shared a link to the site, advertising a $50,000 Stake giveaway. On November 30th, the /r/KickStreaming^[2] subreddit was created, gaining over 110 members in a week. On December 3rd, the official Kick Twitter^[8] account, @KickStreaming, posted a graphic teasing their move into beta testing (shown below).

Trainwreckstv Announces Partnership With Kick

On December 5th, 2022, gambling streamer Trainwreckstv, one of the most prominent streamers on the site, posted a Twitlonger link to Twitter^[3] announcing that he would be working with Kick as a "non-owner advisor and non-exclusive broadcaster." In the Twitlonger,^[4] he claims that he was inspired to work with them after Twtich's purportedly repeated history of cutting streamers' pay. He wrote:

Twitch takes the highest percentage split of any platform in the livestreaming world. At 50%, every streamer on Twitch will only receive $2.50 of each subscription, and less if they’re not in a first world country. I don’t believe it’s right to take such a high percentage of the work that a streamer does. Twitch does nearly no marketing for streamers, no discovery, and limited help in building their business. Those streamers only succeed from the blood, sweat, and time they put in themselves. Twitch’s only role is as a website host. Given their contribution, it is absurd that they take 50% of our income.

He goes on to list a number of features Kick is rolling out in the near future, including 100 percent of all tips on the site going to streamers, no ambiguous bans, rules governing ethical gambling and "a steady income based on hours watched and total viewers you stream to" (full Twitlonger shown below). The tweet gained over 13,000 likes and 1,000 retweets in a day.

Trainwreckstv's announcement was reported on by sites including Dot Esports^[5] and esports.gg^[6] that day. It was also reported by Twitter^[7] user and media personality @JakeSucky, garnering over 13,000 likes in a day.

Online Presence

Connection With Stake.com

On December 5th, 2022, the day Trainwreckstv announced his move to the platform, Twitter^[9] user @Coco_VLR posted screenshots offering evidence that Kick was created by the team behind Stake.com, a crypto gambling website. The prevalence of Stake and similar crypto casinos on Twitch played a large part in the site banning most forms of gambling. Stake was notably the site that Trainwreckstv played on. The post gained over 160 likes in a day.

On December 6th, Dexerto^[10] published an article examining claims that Kick is a project by the Stake team. In the article, they share the tweet by Stake's cofounder, a now-deleted post to /r/KickStreaming^[11] sharing evidence that mods named "CalebKick" and "CalebStake" started the sub, an archive^[12] proving this and an archived^[13] job listing on Easygo looking to hire people to work on Kick that states, "Kick.com is a new venture created by the founders of Easygo and Stake.com."

Reactions / Criticism

Following Tranwreckstv's partnership announcement and claims that Kick is a venture of Stake, the platform and Trainwreckstv gained some criticism due to Stake's reputation among many as being a scam. On December 5th, 2022, Twitter^[14] user @Gappy_V shared doubts that a streamer on the platform had over 150,000 concurrent viewers, garnering over 120 likes in a day. On December 6th, YouTuber Coffeezilla made a post on Twitter^[15] suggesting Trainwreckstv is moving there because of the Stake connection, garnering over 10,000 likes in under a day (shown below).

The site was also reacted to and criticized by numerous Twitch streamers following Trainwreckstv's announcement on December 5th, including Cr1tIkal, xQc and Hasan Piker (examples shown below).

Search Interest

External References