Highest Paid Twitch Streamers Of 2020
Twitch isn’t just for playing video games anymore; people are making entire fortunes off of the website that started off small but has ballooned into hosting gaming, politics, live art, music, and more. And while 2020 may have been a rougher year than most others, the top streamers on Twitch were able to turn all of the people trapped at home into one thing: money.
2020 has made some major changes to the leaderboards between this year and last, and the biggest is obviously the return of Ninja and Shroud to the Twitch platform after taking massive buyout deals originally to head to Mixer, before finally returning after the former Microsoft platform folded.
However, they both failed to crack the top ten list which featured streamers from all around the world, as this list is based on the variety of ways streamers can make money on stream including ads, paid subscriptions, and small donations of bits and cheers.
Some interesting facts before we get to the list: Most of the top streamers are located in the US, which is home to about one in five Twitch viewers. Also, streamer Darksydephil earns about $35 in donations per subscriber, which is $13 more than any other Twitch streamer on the list. Also, the highest-earning Twitch users primarily stream Minecraft, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto V, Counter-Strike Global Offensive, and Fortnite.
Now, let’s jump into the list of the top five earning streamers on Twitch in 2020:
#5 – TimTheTatMan – $1,210,739
Tim is one of a kind. The man is a machine, who has been playing so many games over the past few years that it’s hard to really pigeon hole him into one specific genre.
Fortnite, Warzone, Fall Guys, CounterStrike, Apex Legends, Escape from Tarkov, and so many more, really give Tim the time to shine. With 5.6 million followers and counting, Tim was already pretty popular before this summer becoming a viral meme when he continued and failed, to get a Fall Guys Crown until the impossible became possible.
#4- Odablock – $1,298,619
In true Twitch fashion, you know that there had to be at least ONE Runescape player on the list, and it is Odablock, best known for his fairly outlandish outbursts and inhuman noises he makes on stream.
Married to another streamer, Twilies, it’s a good thing Odablock isn’t needing Runescape money to get paid in the real world, as his subs have helped him net almost 1.3 million dollars in real money, while this time last year he was in debt (in Runescape money) over $100 billion. That’s pure insanity. And like I said earlier, this man earns 14% of all of his income from donations alone, which shows just what kind of a community Oda has behind him.
#3- Ibai – $1,373,605
While most streamers in the top ten earners list are from the states, the third-highest earner comes to us from Barcelona, Spain! Ibai, with his 3.5 million followers, has helped him really own the non-US streaming space. Tied to the esports org G2, Ibai is frequently changing what he is streaming as a variety gamer, from Demon’s Soul, to Among Us, to hanging out in Just Chatting, which leads to his viewer base being very sporadic in their interests.
But Twitch isn’t just the only place Ibai has a massive audience; his YouTube channel, which has just shy of 4 million subscribers alone, pulls millions of views on his videos in just a few days and has shot him up to the trending page more often than not. And even if you don’t speak Spanish, his League of Legends caster impressions are pretty great:
#2- Nickmercs – $1,737,535
A Michigan boy, through and through, Nickmercs is originally from Grand Rapids, MI, but most people probably think the man is from Verdansk with all of the time he spends in Call of Duty: Warzone. He is THE largest Warzone streamer, beating out TimTheTatman by a hair, but also does it while playing with a controller ON A PC. Some people just want to watch the world burn I guess.
He has an extremely loyal fanbase called the MFAM, or Mercs Fam, that help him claim the 14th most followed streamer on the platform title. With over 44 million views this year alone, Nickmercs is going to continue to not only be a top earner but in conjunction with his many brand deals with Faze Clan and GFuel, he will surely be topping this list soon.
#1 – xQc
The cow is back, and despite being known for toxicity, hot takes, a recent cheating scandal, and a pop-off or two, the former pro Overwatch player has hit a huge stride in 2020 with his streams soaring in viewership and leading to almost $2 million dollars in income thanks to an increase in ad revenue, which he was the fifth-highest earner in. Earlier this year, when Among Us REALLY exploded, xQc was at the forefront of the game with streams that featured many massive streamers alongside him.
He also has not been quiet on the drama front, entering into a blood feud with Ninja and his wife/manager at one point as well. xQcOW can boast the highest earnings from subscriptions, with an estimated total of $1,595,167 a year from 55,246 subscribers which seems to only be going up throughout the year. He also had the tenth most bits and cheers this year, earning about $80k from people donating on stream.
That’s it for the top Twitch streaming earners for 2020, but who do you think will top the list next year? Tell us about it on Twitter @CheckpointXP, and let us know who YOU think will reign champion.
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