Twitch’s golden boy Ludwig has moved to YouTube Gaming in the latest in a series of high profile streamer moves to the platform.
Ludwig Ahgren, the content creator who broke Twitch's subscriber record back in April, is moving to YouTube. The phenomenally popular streamer said he was in talks with both parties after his Twitch partnership contract ran out in November, but ultimately felt that YouTube was the way to go.
Ludwig becomes the latest high profile streamer to switch to YouTube, with TimtheTatman and DrLupo both moving from Twitch to YouTube in September. YouTube Gaming's viewership in terms of hours watched went down 13% in Q3, but the addition of Ludwig should make a significant difference.
Why did Ludwig leave Twitch?
In a video following his final Twitch stream, Ludwig explained extensively what motivated his decision to leave the platform that he has defined over the course of 2021.
Ludwig said initially his plan was simply to talk to YouTube in order to leverage a better deal with Twitch. However, with both offers the same aside from YouTube Gaming offering slightly more money, Ludwig decided to flip a coin. Twitch won the coin flip, but YouTube won his heart when he delivered their representatives the news.
"They [YouTube] fought for me. I realised in that moment, even though I've been with Twitch for 3+ years, even though people call me the 'Golden Boy' of Twitch, I've never felt like the golden boy of Twitch, I've never felt particularly loved by Twitch," said Ludwig. "I love Twitch but it hasn't been a two-way street."
"Even though people call me the 'Golden Boy' of Twitch, I've never felt like the golden boy of Twitch, I've never felt particularly loved by Twitch. I love Twitch but it hasn't been a two-way street."
"It sounds so selfish, I'm making a shit ton of money, I have a lot of fans, everything's going well. I feel like a whiny 8-year old child who wants approval from a parent, and I never got that. I never got reached out to after the Subathon, not like a 'hey you made us the most money anyone has ever made in a month, thanks', none of that. I never got anything."
YouTube's offer of less hours meant more time for Ludwig's "dope shit"
Ludwig went on to say that when he came back to YouTube to tell him his decision, they offered him the opportunity to stream for "way less hours a month".
This was a rather key development as it meant Ludwig would have more free time to pursue his creation of "dope shit" such as the Christmas album or Kickball tournament. In contrast, Twitch's deal would have him grinding hours on stream.
When Ludwig went back to the Twitch representatives to tell them he decided on YouTube, there was no further negotiations. "It still fucking hurt when they [Twitch] said 'we wish you the best'," said Ludwig on stream.
"Although I love Twitch and I always thought of myself as a Twitch guy... they're not going to help me make the shit I want to make. I don't feel especially liked, respected or wanted. Also I don't want to do something because it's comfortable. The main thing holding me back from YouTube was fear."
YouTube Gaming's newest high profile streamer concluded that although he was still afraid, that it would be "crazy not do something because he was scared".
"I'm going to try and make even cooler shit this year," said Ludwig.