Shroud returns to Twitch, exclusively

Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek – one of the most influential live streamers on the internet – today announced his triumphant, exclusive return to Twitch, the platform that made him famous, following a diversion to Mixer that could give him a cool $ 10 million made the site go dark and his contract was paid out.

It’s a big deal. Grzesiek was one of the biggest names on the purchase of Twitch pre-Mixer, and he left the site last October for then-greener pastures to signal a worrying exodus of Twitch’s talent to other competing live-streaming platforms, such as YouTube, Facebook Gaming, and Mixer. Ten months and one (ongoing) pandemic later, Mixer is gone and the entire live-streaming landscape has shifted again.

The power is back with the platforms, which have remarkably stopped offering exclusive contracts to streamers – the return of Grzesiek to Twitch is the first move with the highest profile. (Guy “DrDisrespect” Beahm for being permanently banned from Twitch and then streaming back to YouTube without streaming is a slightly different kind of move.)

Because the pandemic industry in America has decimated, it actually helped live streaming flourish: according to a report published by StreamElements and Arsenal.gg, Twitch grew a full 56 percent in terms of hours viewed between the first quarter of this year and second, and Facebook Gaming grew 75 percent over the same period of time. Grzesiek returning to Twitch means that his astronomical numbers – he has 7.1 million followers on Twitch as of this writing – will be counted towards what I am sure will be even more growth in the latter half of this year.

File: StreamElements and Arsenal.gg

Even so, it’s hard not to think about the reasons why live streaming platforms might not want to sign up for new streamers on exclusive deals. First and foremost, there’s the pandemic: while these platforms are growing, COVID-19 has done a number on advertisers, integrating with the business models of live streaming platforms. Growth does not necessarily mean a subsequent increase in advertising revenue.

Second, it is not so clear that signing streamers on contracts with seven figures brings in a proportionate amount of revenue; the competition between live-streaming platforms began only after Mixer shook up the entire market by getting Tyler “Ninja” Blevins to draw on its dotted line. Now that Mixer is gone, it’s not exactly clear if any of the other platforms are ready to shake up the market again – it’s profiting platforms not just to pay live streamers tons of money just to keep them there. (That said, Mixer’s legacy is evident in how their lucrative contracts showed the top live streamers how much they were worth.)

Personally, I think Twitch was signing Grzesiek for an exclusive deal more so as not to let him go again – which was a tactical mistake! – then there was something else, similar to how YouTube immediately signed Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg after his contract with DLive came up. In many ways, you could even read Grzesiek’s homecoming as a return to the old status quo.