Twitch, the world’s largest streaming game service, experienced a hack which exposed financial information of users. The news breaks just as live cam site Chaturbate launches it’s own streaming service, another potential threat to Twitch’s market position.
Twitch allows gamers to share live streams of their gaming experiences. Typically, the gamer discusses their strategy, or irreverent subject matter, while streaming game play.
Twitch is wildly popular with celebrities and pornstars alike. In 2011, Amazon purchased Twitch for an unsightly $1 billion.
The data leak occurred after a 4Chan member, operating under anonymity, released massive amounts of Twitch user data on the forum. The payment details of users
Video Games Chronicle reported the initial breach, claiming the hacker released the information to “foster more disruption and competition in the online video streaming space.” The hacker also claimed the gaming industry is toxic.
“At this time, we have no indication that login credentials have been exposed, we are continuing to investigate,” Twitch PR released in a statement.
The leak exposed that top Twitch streamers make up to, and more, than $100,000 per month (though that’s an assumption based on the hack’s exposure of September payments, though a safe assumption that other months reflect similar payment activity).
You can see the payout list here.
Twitch has just had a major leak of a lot of stuff including their monthly payouts to streamers.
Here are some of the notables (note: this total is just their payout directly from twitch, so it doesn’t include donations, sponsors, merch, etc.) pic.twitter.com/wDG0JkJuCx
— KnowSomething (@KnowS0mething) October 6, 2021
Translation: you can earn fat bank streaming games, particularly if you are a well-known gamer, a celebrity, or a porn star. The hack also validates the idea that Twitch is raking in cash as well, because these payment details don’t include sponsorship earnings.
Streamers sell subscription packages in order to earn revenue. Clearly, gamers are buying subscriptions in volume.
The formula is simple: Get really good at games. Stream your games along with witty, insightful commentary. Cash those checks.
The live gamer streaming sector is exploding, hence, why Chaturbate announced their entry into the space.