With its dubious viewership and a list of controversies as long as my arm, it would be over-generous to call Kick a healthy, sustainable alternative to Twitch. But as Twitch’s reputation falters and its biggest stars abandon the platform, more people are looking to Kick to purportedly fill the void left by the once-great streaming giant. And it keeps making flashy offers to try to lure people in.
Up until now, its biggest, flashiest offer by Kick was probably its 95-5 revenue split for creators. Given the majority of Twitch streamers can only qualify for a 50-50 split, it’s clear why the offer ended up causing a stir. But now, Kick has gone a step further. It is allegedly now offering hourly pay for streamers who meet their threshold, according to a statement released on Feb. 1.
As with any platform, there are a few steps standing between would-be streamers and this hourly pay. To apply, creators must first and foremost be verified on the platform. They also must have 1500 followers, 50 streaming hours in 30 days, 100 concurrent viewers in 30 days, 25 direct subscriptions in 30 days, three archived videos-on-demand (VODs), three unique days streamed, and 500 unique chatters.
On the surface, this looks like a lot of hoops for creators to jump through, but comparatively, to qualify for Twitch’s Partner Plus Program and to get a 70/30 split, creators have to maintain 350 recurring subscriptions, which is certainly a lot steeper than Kick’s 25.
However, the program is shrouded in a lot of uncertainty. Namely, that Kick isn’t transparent about what exactly this “hourly wage” is. The program had a test launch with a select group of creators in 2022 and 2023, and some claimed the pay was $16 per hour, but the company has not confirmed this is the standard rate for everyone across the board.
But it’s worth remembering that, for Kick, this might actually be a challenging feat for creators to achieve. It’s true that some big personalities like xQc and Amouranth have pivoted to the platform, but Kick doesn’t offer the same audience base or advertising ecosystem that platforms like YouTube or Twitch currently offer.
And given Kick’s association with gambling, sexual content, and generally lax content moderation, associating with the platform might actually harm a creator’s reputation more than anything else.
