After confirming the expiration of her Twitch contract, Pokimane teases where she could go next by a simple process of elimination.
A few days ago, popular streamer Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys revealed the shocking fact that her Twitch contract had ended after two years. Pokimane has been a huge star on the Twitch platform for quite some time, making her one of the most recognizable streamers associated with the service. She doesn’t say what’s next, but promised fans that they would see “the next chapter” on February 8.
Obviously, that isn’t far away, but many do believe she is leaving Twitch—after all, she would have likely just renewed the contract without much fanfare if she intended to stay. Not only is this a big shake-up in the streaming world, but it left many fans curious and speculating about what she would do or where she would go next. Everything from Facebook Gaming to YouTube Gaming has been speculated about by her fanbase.
Now, just a few days before the reveal of this “next chapter,” Pokimane appeared on a stream with Nezst. She says that’ll she give him a process of elimination by stating where she won’t go, referring to the discontinued Periscope, jokingly referring to the non-existent TikTok Gaming (even if gaming itself is popular on TikTok), and seriously mentioning Facebook Gaming. As such, this rules out one viable option for Pokimane as she moves forward.
Striking out Facebook Gaming really only leaves a couple of viable options for the streamer. The first, and now more likely, is YouTube Gaming, as she doesn't mention it in her process of elimination. Pokimane already has a YouTube account where she has posted videos in the past, with over 6.7 million subscribers. As such, it’s a reasonable destination for the streamer, and it’s not like she would be the first to leave for YouTube. She would be joining Dr Disrespect, who joined YouTube Gaming after his still-mysterious Twitch ban, as well as TimTheTatman who made the jump more recently. Other former Twitch streamers now on YouTube Gaming include DrLupo, CouRage, Valkyrae, and more.
The second option, though more unlikely if still technically viable, is that she’s not leaving Twitch after all. It was never explicitly stated that she was, and it could be that she’s negotiated some bigger contract that serves as her big reveal and next chapter. The third option is that she’s just not going to reliably stream anywhere, but will continue to do so much less often while pursuing her various other income sources, like her company RTS, where she would largely continue to support new and upcoming streamers from a management side.
Right now, anything’s possible. Facebook Gaming or stepping away seems to be the most likely circumstances, though Pokimane talked about retirement back in 2021 but had supposedly decided against it. For now, fans will just have to wait and see what happens on February 8.
Elden Ring releases in just under a month, and everything fans have seen so far points to it being the next ‘water cooler’ game like BOTW.
When Joshua Duckworth received Pokemon Yellow for Christmas at 5-years-old, his fate as a gamer was set. Since then, he’s been involved with every step of the gaming industries’ growth from the golden PS1 era and the dying days of the arcade to any current gaming trend. When he’s not writing, playing his own games, or thinking about writing or playing his games, he’s probably the second player to his son’s Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! file. Joshua has an MA degree in English from Jacksonville State University, and the best way to contact him is at [email protected].
