Record-Busting Streamer Ludwig Trades Twitch For YouTube Gaming
Published: Nov 30, 2021
In a blow for its parent company, one of the top Twitch streamers, Ludwig Ahgren has announced that he is leaving the platform and from the 30th November he will exclusively be streaming on YouTube Gaming.
Ahgren famously set a new world record for the highest number of subscribers on the channel at over 283,000 back in April this year. It was the culmination of a 31-day streaming event which began on March 14th at the end of which Ahgren eclipsed the record that was previously held by Tyler “Ninja” Blevins.
Ahgren now joins former Twitch streamers DrLupo and TimTheTatman as being the latest streamer to make the move to YouTube Gaming in what is being seen as a clear attempt from YouTube Gaming to improve their market share of the streaming space.
Financial details of the deal are not known, but it is known that YouTube is offering big money for influential streamers and creators to come over to their platform.
Music Streaming Rights Issue Raised
It appears that Twitch’s long-standing issue with music rights may well have played a role in Ahgren deciding to leave the service for YouTube Gaming.
In a video the streamer posted to announce the move, he is shown driving a purple car, a metaphor for Twitch and then a short time later, after he and a friend have exited the vehicle, the car explodes.
Ahgren and his friend then climb into a red car (representing YouTube TV) that is parked for them, explaining that it is ‘similar’ to the purple one but at the end of the video, as the car drives off, Ahgren makes a pointed comment about streaming music.
“Wait don’t you get in trouble for playing music?” asks Ahgren’s friend.
“Not in this car…Not in this car.” Replies Ahgren.
This is a clear reference to Twitch’s issues with music providers over unlicensed use of music in streamers videos, which resulted in a mass deletion of content in 2020.
Twitch has agreed a new deal with the NMPA to improve the situation, but it has seemingly had little to no effect on streamers’ ability to play music when they go live and it is clear that this is a situation which still irks many.
“Welcome To The Family”
After signing TimTheTatman and Dr Lupo, this is another key agreement for YouTube Gaming as they seek to become a serious competitor to Twitch.
The head of YouTube Gaming, Ryan Wyatt, announced the signing of Ahgren on Twitter stating:
I’m excited to announce @LudwigAhgren will now be streaming exclusively on @YouTube Gaming.
Our focus is building a world class VOD, short form and live platform.
And I have to reiterate; we still aren’t done yet! Welcome to the family, Ludwig!
Ludwig already boasts close to 2.1 million subscribers on YouTube and that number is only set to increase with this announcement and his first Live Stream, which is scheduled to take place on the 30th November and which is reported to be a Q&A style event.
Worrying Year For Twitch
The news comes after a worrying year for Twitch which has not just seen the Amazon platform losing key streamers to other services, but ongoing music copyright issues and controversy over ‘hate raids’, the latter of which led to a ‘digital walkout’ by creators over the platform’s inability to keep them safe and protected.
In contrast, YouTube Gaming has had its best year to date with a host of streamers making the switch over to the service and top esports events, such as the League of Legends World Finals not only attracting huge numbers of viewers but those tuning in to watch to help with their esports betting too.
Ludwig’s arrival is only going to help YouTube Gaming continue its upward trend and he is not likely to be the last big streamer swapping platforms.
Since: August 10, 2015
