How much do Twitch stars make? Shroud, Auron Play and Rubius highest-earners on video game streamer
Twitch, the interactive streaming site for gamers and eSports, has experienced a rapid rise in popularity in recent times. Millions of professional gamers have flocked to the platform and streamed their live games, garnering a fan base comprising millions of users and the opportunity to make money off of gameplay. Many Twitch players have gone on to establish full-time careers from streaming online and cashing their earnings. Canadian company Online Gambling recently analyzed the platform's top users and streamers to gauge their earnings and popularity. Their findings narrowed down thirty of the most influential and highest-earning Twitch streamers.
Methodology
Online Gambling surveyed users of the platform via a tool called the Twitch Tracker, which short-listed 30 among the highest followed Twitch streamers. The analysis calculated the estimated earnings per video using the Ig Face Twitch Money Calculator, which consists of Twitch's official revenue sources. However, it is crucial to note that estimating the exact earnings of a user is not possible, so there may be some deviation in the approximated earnings. The total Twitch income was computed from multiplying the earnings per video by the number of videos on the user's page.
Highest-earning Twitch streamers
The top Twitch streamers were extracted based on their total Twitch income and ranked accordingly.
According to the data compiled by Online Gambling, the top spot for the highest-earning Twitch user is claimed by Shroud. 25-year-old Michael Grzesiek known by his username, Shroud, earns an approximate annual Twitch income of $33.3 million, with each of his videos minting him at least $26,887. He has a total of 1,239 videos on his profile based mostly on 'Apex Legends,' with 7.7 million users forming his fanbase and 365 million views in all. At $14.9 million total Twitch income is Auron Play, who by playing 'Minecraft', earns a whopping record per capita of $287,164 on his videos. The 31-year-old Twitch star, whose real name is Raúl Álvarez Genes, closes in on second place with 2.32 million followers and 15.6 million views on 52 videos.
Following closely behind Auron Play is Lirik, who earns $3,637 per video, for his exploits on 'Lost Ember'. 29-year-old Saqib Zahid, aka Lirik, has 2.60 million followers in his fan base and a total of 340 million views on 3,655 videos uploaded to his profile. Online Gambling analyzed additional Twitch streamers and concluded that they all earn a decent amount, with the lowest-earning a total Twitch income of $13K to date, from merely three videos on their channel.
In the month of April alone, many top users gained a large number of followers and viewership, brought about by the pandemic lockdown and quarantine period. Rubén Doblas Gundersen better known as Rubius added 1.54 million followers to his fan base bringing the total to 3.98 million. The 30-year-old streamer is known for making gameplay, skits, and vlogs and has a total of 49.5 million views. Rubius earns $134,979 per video and his total income is $12.3 million. Summit1G garnered 826,000 new followers this past month bringing the total to 5.19 million followers. Jaryd Lazar, 26, earns $4,498 per video and his total Twitch income is $1.5 million based on 366 million views.
Spike in e-Sports popularity
According to Business Insider, the e-Sports market is estimated to eclipse $1.5 billion by 2023. Added to this ripple effect is the rapid increase in online gaming during the pandemic lockdown. There has been an astounding 75% increase in gaming usage amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Twitch has more than 15 million daily users and has outperformed streaming rivals such as YouTube and Mixer with regard to viewership hours in the past year.
Furthermore, Twitch streamer Dinky Dana told Online Gambling, "There are now e-sports arenas being built similar to professional football stadiums. With Amazon purchasing Twitch a few years ago I see the trending popularity of e-sports and Twitch streaming as only increasing over the next 10 years." The 39-year-old gamer, whose real name is Brad Driscoll, also gave a piece of advice on how to earn money as a pro Twitch streamer. "It is definitely possible to make a full-time living on Twitch. Not only do players get subscription payments and donations, many of the biggest streamers do now get endorsement deals to promote products or services on their streams," he said. "This is very similar to companies purchasing advertising space similar to product placement in television or brand promotion in the biggest sports arenas. Advertisers will always go to where the most attention is and Twitch is becoming one of those places fast at rates far cheaper than traditional advertising."