Nick “Nickmercs” Kolcheff, one of Twitch’s most popular streamers, has agreed to continue streaming exclusively on the Amazon-owned platform. The agreement secures one of Twitch’s most important creators for the foreseeable future, and it comes at a critical time for Twitch, which has already lost two major streamers to YouTube Gaming.
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins made a trip from Twitch to Microsoft-owned streaming platform Mixer in August 2019, kicking off the streaming talent wars. This resulted in a burst of streamer shuffles, with some of the biggest names in the industry signing exclusive deals with Twitch, Mixer, and other platforms like YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming.
While deal-making has slowed in recent weeks (in part due to Microsoft’s decision to shut down Mixer, effectively removing an entire streaming platform from the market), the ecosystem has begun to shift again. DrLupo and TimTheTatman both signed exclusive streaming deals with YouTube Gaming in September, just days apart and nearly two years after they first met.
Kolcheff replied “yes and no” to an emailed question about whether he considered leaving Twitch, pointing out that he produces content on other platforms every day.
The terms of Kolcheff’s new Twitch deal were not disclosed. Twitch, on the other hand, may have dug deep into its coffers to entice him to stay.