The Real Truth Behind Pokimane's Fake Announcement

Toward the end of last year, popular streamer Pokimane began hinting that she had a new contract in her near future. While some speculated that this meant that she and Twitch would be revising the terms of her contact with the streaming platform, there were also rumors that she may be making the move to rival streaming platform Mixer.

This wouldn't have been entirely out of the question. In fact, there have been several recent high profile cases of streamers with huge followings heading to other platforms. Most notably, Ninja left Twitch for Mixer late last summer. The popular Fortnite streamer faced a bit of an uphill climb following the move (and Twitch definitely took a hit in the viewership department), but he has continued to flourish. Since the move, Ninja has been recognized by Fortnite developer Epic Games with his very own in-game character skin and has supposedly received a rather hefty paycheck from Mixer. All in all, it still seems like the streamer made a wise decision in moving from Twitch to Mixer. Fellow streamer Shroud followed Ninja's example not long after, heading to Mixer for a new contract and audience.

Considering the higher profile and opportunities to make more money doing what they love, it would certainly be no surprise to see another streamer on Pokimane's level making the jump to another platform. That's probably the main reason she chose to address the situation in a humorous way.

A few days ago, Pokimane released a video on her Twitter feed that seemed like it was building up to a massive announcement. A narrator with an intense voice warned, "Something is coming, something no one expected — except for the people who did expect it." 

After the announcer explains to a fourth wall-breaking Pokimane that he's there to provide narration for her big announcement, she simply says, "I'm not announcing anything."

The two continue to have a bit of humorous dialogue taking shots at the "obscure internet forums" that speculated over the idea that Pokimane might be moving to another platform. However, the message is received loud and clear: Pokimane is not going anywhere. 

Following up on this fake tease, Pokimane posted a video to her YouTube account that delved further into her decisions and her relationship with her fans. While the reasons she outlines in the new video are pretty much what one would expect, she makes some solid points as to why she doesn't feel the need to jump ship. In fact, according to the description on the YouTube video, she made the decision to stay with Twitch "quite a while ago."

Though she was offered deals from several different up and coming streaming platforms and was offered a large sum of money to make the change, she made the decision to stay with Twitch. The main reasons she mentions in her latest video is that she simply feels like Twitch is altogether a better fit for her.

"I did a lot of research when it came to making this decision," explains Pokimane. She goes on to explain that she didn't want to be on a service that had any kind of delay between video and chat. She was also concerned that her connection with her fans would be hurt when they all made the move to another platform, particularly if there were issues with delay. This is a great point, considering it's not just Pokimane who would be making the jump. Considering the size of her fanbase, a whole group of followers would be theoretically making the transition, too. Maintaining a solid connection with those fans would be a key part of making the change worth it, regardless of a significant payday.

It certainly doesn't hurt that Pokimane continues to be extremely successful on the Twitch platform, being one of their top earners. Her fans are incredibly loyal and she seems to feel right at home with Twitch. According to her newest video, these were some of the main reasons why she chose to stay with Twitch for the foreseeable future. 

In fact, on March 8, Pokimane took to Twitter to thank her fans and celebrate six years of being a Twitch partner. In other words, she seems to really feel like she's found her spot in the gaming community. One simply has to look at the response from her fans and colleagues to think that she's on the right track. 

As one fan notes, "You're a huge role model to young women out there and I really appreciate you verbalising that your happiness and wellbeing on the platform trumped the larger sum offered to you."