Who Is the Best Streamer?

Last weekend, we have had a chance to watch the first The Streamer Awards gala in history. Hosted by QTCinderella and Maya Higa, the event celebrated creativity and a warm reminder of how natural and unpretentious such galas could be. Read on to find out who got the Best Streamer Award and what lesson could you learn from the event itself. In other news:

📱Russia bans Instagram as promised, blocking access for 80 million users

👮🏻‍♂️ Twitch responds to fresh wave of hate raids 

🔒 Fortnite bans cash prizes for Russian players amidst Ukraine crisis

Whether it’s the Grammys, the Oscars or the Game Awards, each industry has that special night of ceremony. But, until last Saturday, streaming didn’t. On March 12th, Twitch streamer QTCinderella and Maya Higa hosted the first in history The Streamer Awards gala. The event was dedicated to celebrating online creators.

The five-hour-long Hollywood-style ceremony included red carpet interviews and a glamorous dress code.

The statuettes in the shape of a popular Twitch emoticon Peepo were given out across twenty-seven categories. Among the winners were top streaming celebrities, such as Ludwig, who won Streamer of the Year Award and shroud, who won Gamer of the Year.

There was also Pokimane (Legacy Award), Tyler1 (Best League of Legends Streamer), Amouranth (Best ASMR Streamer) and DisguisedToast (Best Strategy Game Streamer).

The event was transmitted on Twitch and reached an average of 260,000 viewers with almost 400,000 viewers at peak. The interest in the event was so high it even broke to 5th place of trending Twitter topics in the US.

Brands, streamers, and streaming organisations should closely watch the awarded creators and their content to indicate the latest trends on the platform. Without a doubt, they are an inspiration for many of their followers. But the first Streamer Awards gala was also crucial for another reason: it showed everyone how authentic such events can be!

Despite the small budget and limited production crew, QTCinderella and Maya Higa accomplished an impressively well-put-together event. It was as natural and organic as the streaming community. Honesty, authenticity and pure joy of celebrating the passion pour out of every minute of the gala stream (still available on QTCinderella’s channel btw). This is probably the lesson anyone wanting to reach GenZ should take.

Gaming Against the War in Ukraine

Russia bans Instagram as promised, blocking access for 80 million users

Following last week’s threats, Russian authorities ban another social media platform after Facebook and Twitter. Reportedly, around 40% of the userbase will migrate over to VKontakte. What will happen to the rest, and what are the implications for the influencer industry?

Ubisoft and Take-Two also block game sales in Russia

Following EA Games, CD Projekt Red, Activision Blizzard, and Epic Games, the two giants of game development and publishing refuse to sell their titles in Russia in the face of  the “ongoing tragedy in Ukraine.”

Russia may legalize software piracy as tech and game companies continue to pull out

Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development has introduced a potential law lifting liabilities for the use of unlicensed software, which could indicate preparations for life under sanctions for an extended period. Russian citizens will be able to make copies of any patented design or piece of code created under the laws of “enemy states”.

ESL Pro League teams raise $125,000 for disaster relief in Ukraine

Last week, ESL Pro League’s Commissioner Alexander Inglot announced that the members of its Louvre Agreement will donate $125,000 (£95,000) to help people affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Fortnite bans cash prizes for Russian players amidst Ukraine crisis

According to the official announcement, ‘Effective March 11, Russia will be added to the list of countries where players are ineligible to win cash prizes in Fortnite tournaments.’

Instagram is finally letting livestreamers add moderatorsOne of the crucial live streaming roles is coming to live streams on Instagram. Moderators will be able to kick viewers from the streams, report comments and turn off the possibility for commenting for a particular viewer. This will help content creators remain advertiser-friendly and enable brands to have better control over their sponsored content.

Twitch responds to fresh wave of hate raidsFemale and LGBTQ+ creators have been targeted recently in coordinated attacks with spammy and hateful chat messages. The platform’s legal team is investigating the incident.

We’re bringing back our podcast for its second season. This week, listen to Katarzyna Dąbrowska’s discussion with Sam Cooke, the CEO of Esports Insider, one of the world’s most influential esports-related media outlets.

If you’d like to know how you can scale up your business in unexpected ways, what the influence of Singapore and Iceland is on the esports ecosystem, or if it’s worth it going to a UK university – tune in!

Listen to the episode