TimTheTatman's YouTube Announcement Has The Internet Going Wild

YouTube Gaming scored its second major streaming talent acquisition in less than a week when it revealed on Sept. 1 that Twitch superstar TimTheTatman would be signing to the platform exclusively.

Ryan Wyatt, YouTube's head of gaming, announced the news on Twitter, exactly as he did for DrLupo just days earlier. Once again, the announcement totally caught gamers by surprise, especially considering TimTheTatman's massive fanbase on Twitch, where he has more than 7 million followers. While his subscriber count on YouTube is not an insignificant number (3.8 million), the channel still currently reaches only about half the amount of fans as he does on his nearly decade-old Twitch channel.

TimTheTatman spoke with Insider about the reasons behind his decision. He cited his desire to spend more time with his family, commit to a balanced streaming schedule, and take advantage of YouTube's larger overall audience as factors in his switch, largely echoing the explanation that DrLupo gave regarding his decision to leave Twitch. TimTheTatman said, "The reality is, now that I've got my wife and my son, it's hard for me to stream as much as I did beforehand."

He also commented on the aggressive growth that YouTube Gaming has been pursuing, stating, "YouTube is – I'd almost use the word hungry. They want their streaming platform to be the best." 

The news that TimTheTatman would be making the move to YouTube Gaming sent shockwaves through the streaming community, and some of the biggest names in the game weighed in on his exciting decision.

Ninja noted the many streamers that had recently transitioned to Twitch's competitor, as well as how many of them he'd streamed with in the past. He tweeted, "My entire OG Fortnite squad is on YouTube gaming." Ninja then made sure to congratulate TImTheTatman, DrLupo, and CouRage on their exciting deals. CouRage, the co-owner of 100 Thieves who was one of the first prominent streamers to join YouTube Gaming exclusively (per Insider), looped DrDisrespect into the exciting news. CouRage tagged the Doc, DrLupo, and TimTheTatman to ask, "Squads tomorrow?"

While Dr Disrespect responded to that invitation with a very on-brand reply of "Nah, I'm good," his direct communication with TimTheTatman was a little more revealing. The Doc simply tweeted, "Timmy?" This was met by a selfie of TimTheTatman smiling back at him. 

Due to DrDisrespect's ban from Twitch, which is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit, the two friends have been largely unable to easily stream with one another. This recently led to some recent heartfelt words from TimTheTatman regarding the situation, so fans will probably be very happy to see the pair playing together again.

Beyond that, fellow YouTubers DrLupo and Valkyrae dropped by to share their excitement for their new platform partner, as did Twitch stars like NickMercs. Even Twitch itself had nice things to say about the announcement, with the platform tweeting, "You'll always be a King to us. Thank you for everything, TimTheTatman."