SUMMARY
- Pokimane posted on X to announce her exit from the streaming platform Twitch.
- The company has been facing layoffs and uncertainty about its future under its owner, Amazon.
It is officially the “end of an era,” with famous female streamer Pokimane exiting the streaming platform Twitch. Pokimane has been associated with Twitch for a long time; in fact, it’s safe to say she earned most of her popularity through the platform.
Pokimane exiting the platform is yet another blow for Twitch, which has been going through tough times recently. The company has been facing layoffs and uncertainty about its future under its owner, Amazon. In a recent address, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy said Twitch was no longer in the business of providing big-money deals to streamers, emphasizing that the economics do not make sense.
“The cost of retaining those streamers would have been far more than the revenue generated from them,” he said. He added that it is something that they’ve been very clear about, and the company didn’t want to do that.
Pokimane exits Twitch
Imane Anys, popularly known as ‘Pokimane’, announced her exit from the Amazon-owned streaming site via a post on X (formerly Twitter) dated January 30, 2024. Along with the tweet, she also shared an official promotional image of the Twitch app on the App Store, which had her face. She was trying to hint at just how closely the female star has been associated with the site in the past.
Although it was not all that surprising, some fans say this has been coming for a little over a year now. In September 2022, Pokimane mentioned that Twitch wasn’t “creatively fulfilling” anymore. She also specified her desire to stream less and start using other platforms such as Instagram and TikTok more often. Now that she has officially announced her exit, it serves as a final nail in the coffin.
“The end of an era,” she wrote in her post. “Twitch has been my home for a decade. But it’s time to say thank you for all the memories and love during my League, Fortnite, & Among Us days,” she added.
What an incredible journey it’s been. We’re so proud of everything you’ve accomplished and what’s ahead in the future.
You’ll always have a home on Twitch, Poki 💜
— Twitch (@Twitch) January 30, 2024
It seems like she’s finally implementing what she wanted, since she hasn’t streamed on Twitch in about four days, but is seen to be active on other social channels. Besides social media, it remains to be seen what the Moroccan-Canadian does next. It is possible she may follow the likes of xQc and turn towards Twitch’s rival streaming platform Kick, or maybe head to YouTube Gaming.
Twitch replied to Pokimane’s post congratulating her on the “incredible journey” over the decade. They stated how everyone was proud of everything she’s accomplished and that they look forward to seeing what she does next in her live-streaming career.
When did Pokimane start streaming?
Pokimane started streaming way back in 2012, and two years later, in 2014, she officially created her Twitch channel. Interestingly, her moniker, Pokimane, is a combination of Pokémon and her name, Imane.
In her association with the platform for over a decade, she has managed to amass around 9.3 million followers, becoming one of Twitch’s highest-earning contributors. Over the years, she has grown to become one of the faces of Twitch.
She began streaming on Twitch with a $250 PC that she purchased from a classified website after reaching the Platinum rank in League of Legends. By 2017, she had gained over 450,000 followers on the platform, which listed her among the 100 most-followed personalities on the platform. Due to her rising popularity, she was even named the Best Twitch Streamer of the Year in 2017.
By now, she had also made a cameo appearance in a League of Legends trailer that announced a new game mode. At E3 in 2018, Epic Games, the Fortnite developers, arranged a pro-am event wherein streamers were paired with mainstream celebrities in a match of Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode. Here, Pokimane was originally paired with rapper Desiigner; however, shortly before the event, he was replaced with basketball player Josh Hart.
Later in July 2018, Twitch recognized her potential and named Pokimane as one of 15 ambassadors for the 2018 TwitchCon event. Two years later, in 2020, the 27-year-old signed a multi-year exclusivity agreement with Twitch. By 2021, Pokimane had become the 9th most-followed user on the platform, with over 8.5 million followers.
Her decade-long journey with Twitch has been fantastic, but not without a few controversies and insignificant bans. The most notable of them was when she made headlines in November 2023 over the price of a snack she had launched.