The Real Reason Nadeshot Is Giving Up His Twitch Partnership

Nadeshot, one of 100 Thieves' founders, has announced that he'll be giving up his Twitch partnership in order to pursue other goals. But why would Nadeshot choose to walk away from sure cash? Well, the answer is pretty simple.

By signing an exclusive deal with Twitch, Nadeshot gave up his chance to play on other platforms, like YouTube. Nadeshot wanted to be able to stream "Call of Duty" League matches on YouTube with LA Thieves, another esports team he co-founded. By stepping down to Affiliate and ditching his exclusive contract with Twitch, Nadeshot will be free to use any streaming platform he likes without running the risk of falling into legal trouble. 

Nadeshot announced this change during a May 17 livestream, and explained what it would mean for his future streams. "I think it works out really well because I'll hopefully be able to co-stream 'Call of Duty' matches that LA Thieves have," Nadeshot said. "I'm not really changing much, I'm not leaving Twitch, just being an Affiliate gives me a little bit of freedom on where I can stream and where I can't." Nade also clarified the status of his Twitch exclusivity contract: "I'm not gonna be a Partner anymore, just an Affiliate."

Nadeshot's move towards co-streaming "Call of Duty" makes sense, as he has often celebrated the cooperative aspects of the game. Last year, Nadeshot even risked punishment from Twitch in order to wish his banned friend Dr Disrespect well during a stream. Relationships with streamers and fellow pro players are clearly important to Nadeshot, and those friendships are formed in cooperative online play.

Exclusive streaming deals are common for big name gamers, but that doesn't mean that they're always the best route to take. PewDiePie signed an exclusive streaming deal with YouTube in 2020, binding him to that platform. Ninja similarly chose to stream exclusively with Twitch after Mixer, his preferred streaming platform, shut down. While contracts with specific platforms don't allow for freedom of movement, they do provide extra job security and a more stable income for streamers that want to play games or create content for a living.

Nadeshot has stayed silent on who he plans to stream with in the future, aside from LA Thieves, but there's no doubt Thieves fans will flock to watch his matches. There's also no word on when Nadeshot will begin co-streaming on YouTube, though his Twitch account has apparently already been demoted to Affiliate level.