Pokimane Explains Why She's Stayed On Twitch

As YouTube snatches more streamers from the monolith that is Twitch — with some of the most recent examples being Ludwig and TimTheTatman — some other popular Twitch streamers are being asked if they would make the same jump. Pokimane is among the streamers facing that question, and during a Nov. 30 stream, she revealed just why she would always pick Twitch. 

Obviously, Pokimane has seen a tremendous amount of success as a Twitch streamer, allowing her to do things like create a $100,000 scholarship fund for student gamers. However, Pokimane made it very clear that her decision to stream on Twitch instead of YouTube was ultimately determined by one thing.

"Two years ago, when I had to first choose between Twitch and YouTube ... you know what I decided off of? Not which platform would give me more money. Not which platform was nicer to me. But which platform I would have more f***ing fun on!" Pokimane said.

Pokimane continued, explaining that she simply enjoys Twitch chat and Twitch culture too much to switch to YouTube. YouTube has seemingly been able to lock down top talent by offering them a large sum of money, but it looks like the platform won't be able to persuade Pokimane to switch sides anytime soon — unless the streamer decides to go global.

Pokimane went on to explain that she only has two years left in her Twitch contract, after which she has some big plans. Pokimane said that she might go "solo" and start traveling the world, at which point she might just stream on "f***ing everything" to get her content out there, or she might switch primarily to just YouTube in order to gain a mainstream audience. However, that could be a while off. She said when she made the decision to sign with Twitch, what she wanted was "a good-a** time, and you guys are a good a** time," referring to Twitch chat.

Pokimane didn't seem too committed to any specific future plans, but much can change on the internet and in streaming culture in a few short years. YouTube could be the top dog or Twitch could implode on itself by the time she's ready to move on. Regardless, it seems like she's happy to stay committed to her current platform, for at least a few more years. Not many major streamers would make their decision based on fun instead of money, but that appears to be exactly what Pokimane has done.