Audrey
The world of video game streaming has, in recent years, exploded. The 2020s have seen a new batch of popular video game livestreamers crop up and take their respective places on their various platforms, and rightfully so. New and young creators have quickly broken records and cemented themselves as well-known names among viewers, and some of them have put together some absolutely massive projects that have been livestreamed for anyone to watch. Nowadays, there’s a variety of platforms to choose from for both streamers and viewers and plenty of careers have been built on all of them.
Livestreams are long and can’t be entertaining every single second just due to how long they last. However, they’re perfect for having as background audio, or for occasionally popping in to see what’s going on. They make for perfect companions if you’re doing a second activity like playing a game or trying your luck on megaways slots. Overall, they have their place in the media landscape and only seem to be trending upward in popularity.
xQc: The Ubiquitous Variety Powerhouse
Even among new stars, some veterans continue to wield enormous influence. Félix “xQc” Lengyel is a prime example of an established streamer who, while not brand-new, has massively grown his impact in recent years. Being a former professional Overwatch player, xQc transitioned to full-time variety streaming and became one of Twitch’s all-time top personalities, amassing over 12 million followers on the platform. What makes xQc so influential in the 2020s is his sheer presence: he streams for countless hours, covers a bit of everything, and consistently ranks at the top of viewership charts.
xQc’s content spans any game or genre you can imagine. One day he might be playing competitive shooters like Valorant or Overwatch, and the next he’s reacting to internet videos or streaming a chess match. He’s also famous for frequently trying his luck in a crypto casino and has streamed countless hours of gambling related streams to his audience. He’s known for his rapid-fire commentary and unfiltered reactions, which tens of thousands of live viewers find highly entertaining. xQc very much enjoys riding every trend in gaming. This includes participating in Grand Theft Auto V roleplay servers (he was a central figure in the big GTA RP craze of 2021), as well as trying out new game releases the moment they drop. His community (the so-called “Juicers”) is huge and loyal, following him across whatever content he explores.
In 2023, xQc made industry headlines by signing a landmark deal with the new streaming platform Kick. The contract, reportedly worth up to $100 million over two years, allows xQc to stream on Kick while still remaining non-exclusive (he can continue on Twitch as well). This kind of deal was unprecedented (comparable to a sports free agency megadeal) and underscored xQc’s status as one of the most valuable talents in livestreaming. It also signaled a shifting landscape where top creators can leverage massive contracts and even stream on multiple platforms. Following xQc, other big names (like Amouranth) also took deals on alternative platforms, showing the influence xQc has as a trendsetter among streamers.
Despite these moves, xQc remains a dominant force on Twitch and in gaming at large. He co-streams major esports events (bringing his huge audience to watch parties for League of Legends Worlds, Valorant tournaments, etc.), and his opinions on games often ripple through the community. Whether he’s raging at a game bug or praising a new release, developers and gamers take notice. Few individuals have the immediate reach in gaming that xQc does, thanks to his marathon streams and broad content. His style may be loud and chaotic, but it’s uniquely engaging, making xQc a continuing pillar of the livestream era, even as newer stars rise around him.
Kai Cenat: Twitch’s Record-Breaking Entertainer
One of the most successful recent stories in streaming would be that of Kai Cenat. His journey to the top of Twitch has certainly been one of the more recent and groundbreaking. Originally a content creator making short comedy videos, Kai really found his groove in the landscape of streaming, transitioning in 2021 and not looking back since. He quickly caught on with younger audiences due to his high-energy style of humor and commentary, as well as his interesting blend of gaming and real-life content. The pinnacle of his streaming career would most likely be his “Mafiathon” subathon events hosted in 2023 in 2024, where he streamed continuously for weeks on end. At one point during these streams, he amassed 300,000 concurrent subscribers, which broke the all-time Twitch sub-record set by previous streamers. These stunts, along with his other usual content, won him the Streamer of the Year award and he even landed on Rolling Stone’s list of influential creators.
Kai’s usual content usually takes many forms, but he’s most often seen playing games such as GTA V roleplay or Fortnite. If he isn’t playing anything, he’s most likely reacting to memes, or simply talking with his Twitch chat about any number of things. Due to his immense popularity, he’s had many celebrity cameos on Stream over the past few years. These include famous rappers such as 21 Savage and Kanye West, as well as sports celebrities like Kyrie Irving. The cameos were key in helping Kai “bridge the gap” between online livestreaming and more mainstream entertainment. Livestreaming has often been viewed as a lower form of more casual and amateur entertainment, but collaborations with various well-known celebrities have helped somewhat shift that mentality for the better.
Beyond just the simple act of streaming, Kai Cenat has really worked on better integrating the audience into his streams and making them feel more heard. He often refers to them as “the Mafia” (hence, the name “Mafiathon” for his subathons). Additionally, he and his chat have popularized internet slang such as “rizz” (Short for “Charisma”, usually in the context of successfully romantically attracting another person). “Rizz” even went on to become Oxford’s 2023 Word of the Year. Additionally, his past collaborations with fellow Twitch streamers have been beneficial to spreading the word about him and his brand. His collaboration streams with streamer IShowSpeed have broken into the online mainstream, with funny moments from the collaboration streams being frequently shared between the teenagers and young adults of today. All of these factors combined have made him the current most-subscribed and most-watched streamer on the entire site of Twitch.
IShowSpeed: YouTube’s Chaotic Global Phenom
On the side of YouTube livestreaming, Darren Watkins Jr., A.K.A. “IShowSpeed”, has reached unbelievable levels of stardom and influence among younger viewers. IShowSpeed (Often referred to as just “Speed”) has built a more than impressive career on the platform after having transitioned to it in 2021. His humor isn’t for everyone, as he is incredibly loud and bombastic (often screaming and barking at the games he enjoys playing), but it’s undeniable that it’s caught on with younger viewers. This side of him was most commonly seen in more stressful gaming moments, such as in horror games. Additionally, he’s performed many unbelievable and strange stunts and has made the news countless times for them. These originally included crude, sexually charged humor, which caused him to get banned from Twitch in 2021 for harassment. However, since then, his stunts have included things like setting off live fireworks in his own bedroom, or traveling the world and having “fun” with the locals.
After his Twitch ban, Speed amassed millions of subscribers on YouTube, with a large focus on football (soccer) content. His obsession with famous footballer Cristiano Ronaldo was funny and ludicrous to many people from his young and quickly growing audience. This culminated during the 2022 Qatar World Cup, where he released a music video titled “World Cup” that currently sits at 175 million views on YouTube. Since then, he’s transitioned more into real-life livestreaming, visiting countries such as China and amassing hundreds of millions of views along the way.
One thing that sets Speed apart is his age, he started streaming incredibly young, and is currently 20 years old. However, by 18 he was already a popular name on the internet, and overall experienced streaming and internet fame at an extremely young age. Additionally, his fanbase consists of many young and impressionable Gen Z and Gen Alpha viewers, who will most likely continue to watch his content as long as he can properly adapt to the growing age of his audience over the next few years. In 2022, Speed was named “Breakout Streamer of the Year” at the Streamy Awards, and by 2024 he won “Streamer of the Year” at the Streamer Awards. Like Kai Cenat, Speed has collaborated with mainstream celebrities before, though not to the degree of Kai himself.
Despite the chaotic nature of his livestreams, IShowSpeed has shown an intuitive sense of entertaining his audience and maintaining a healthy level of unpredictability. Fans often tune in for the “anything can happen” feeling on his streams, as he often surprises viewers with various activities and stunts, to keep his channel entertaining. Despite his young age, Speed has reached the top of stardom, and he definitely stands as one the most popular and influential streamers of the current era.
Ibai Llanos: Spain’s Streaming Supernova
Game streaming isn’t just booming in English-speaking circles. Spanish-language creators command astronomical audiences, and Ibai Llanos is chief among them. Ibai (pronounced “ee-bye”) is a former League of Legends caster turned variety streamer whose humor, charm, and big ambitions have made him a global cultural icon of streaming. He started shoutcasting esports in 2014, but in the last few years, Ibai’s personal Twitch channel has exploded in popularity, amassing over 17 million followers and often topping worldwide viewership charts. While his core audience is Spanish-speaking, his influence is undeniable across the whole platform.
What sets Ibai apart is how he blends gaming with broader entertainment. Yes, he streams games (LoL, Fall Guys, FIFA, etc.), but he’s equally likely to host talk shows, celebrity interviews, or large-scale event streams. His personality is warm, comedic, and highly engaging, making even non-gaming content exciting to his fans. Ibai has essentially become a variety TV host on Twitch, and he’s pulled off some of the biggest live productions the platform has ever seen.
Most famously, Ibai organizes an annual creator boxing event called “La Velada del Año” (“The Night of the Year”). These influencer boxing matches have drawn record-breaking viewership: in July 2023, La Velada III on Ibai’s channel hit 3.4 million concurrent viewers, shattering the Twitch world record for live viewership. That event was hosted in a sold-out 70,000-seat stadium in Madrid, essentially combining a live sporting spectacle with a stream. It serves as a testament to Ibai’s showmanship. (For context, the previous records were also held by Ibai and his Spanish peers. his 2022 event hit 3.3M viewers, and prior to that, fellow Spaniard TheGrefg peaked at 2.4M with a Fortnite stream in 2021.) No English-language streamer has come close to those numbers, highlighting the might of the Spanish-speaking community on Twitch.
Ibai’s channel is also known for unique collaborations. He’s hosted all kinds of notable people, such as football stars and musicians; in one notable stream, he even interviewed Lionel Messi after Messi’s big transfer, bringing sports journalism into the Twitch format. He co-streamed major football presentations and was personally invited to big real-world sports events, underscoring how his influence extends beyond gaming. Despite these ventures, Ibai remains at heart a gamer who loves sharing laughs with his chat. His community loves his authenticity and the feeling that anything can happen on his stream.
In short, Ibai Llanos has proven that a streamer can become a mainstream entertainment powerhouse. He’s opened doors for non-English streaming and set the bar for high-production broadcasts on Twitch. As of 2025, he remains one of the platform’s most-watched and most innovative content creators, especially for the Spanish-speaking world, and his global impact is impossible to ignore.
(It’s worth noting that Ibai is not alone, the Spanish streaming boom includes others like TheGrefg, who is known for his Fortnite content and once held the concurrent viewership record at 2.4M, and AuronPlay, another variety streamer with a massive following. While primarily popular in Spanish language markets, their events and records have often put them on the global stage.)