Pokimane has finally revealed why she’s leaving Twitch after hinting that her time on the platform would be coming to an end in a cryptic post, calling the company “messy.”
Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys has been streaming on Twitch for over a decade and still reigns as the most-followed female broadcaster on the platform.
However, the internet icon hinted that her time with the site would be coming to an end in a cryptic tweet on January 30, leaving fans shocked.
Fans speculated that Pokimane may have taken a lucrative deal with another site, despite her previous statements saying that she prefers Twitch’s unique culture over that of other platforms.
A day later, Poki officially confirmed that she is not renewing her contract with Twitch, citing several issues with the company in a tell-all episode of her podcast.
Pokimane won’t sign an exclusive streaming deal with any platform
“If you see Twitch and streaming nowadays, it’s really almost nothing like how it was back then,” she said. “Or frankly, I feel like it has regressed a lot. And I think that’s the biggest reason why I have a hard time wanting to devote all of my time and all of my energy to just streaming.”
She went on to call Twitch a “messy” company, citing the site’s multiple issues with its artistic nudity policy that saw the site become inundated with inappropriate content late last year.
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“I personally am done with Twitch’s messy behavior in the sense that I’m not done with Twitch, but I’m done with, like, being emotionally invested in the changes that this company is doing,” she admitted.
She also expressed issues with Twitch’s hotly-debated ban process, saying that “even when something becomes evidently clear that it is wrong, it still takes them a hot ass minute to do anything about it. You have people with incredible viewership getting declined partnership over and over and over and over and over.”
Ultimately, Pokimane revealed that she’d decided not to re-sign with Twitch months prior to her cryptic tweet, saying that she doesn’t want to sign “exclusively with any streaming platform” for the foreseeable future.
“So moving forward, I’m going to try streaming on other platforms. How exciting. I’m going to try streaming on YouTube and TikTok and Instagram, and now I’m just going to have fun,” she explained. “I just want to be able to partake in different platforms and things either as I see fit or as I find excitement in doing it.”
As of now, Pokimane has announced that she will stream on YouTube on February 1, 2024 for a YouTube Streamers vs Twitch Streamers showdown.