SU 2027 Goes to Europe, Discord Cuts TikTok, YouTube on AI Slop, + Speed's World Cup
Hello and welcome! Quick 1 Question poll: How much Streamer University did you watch? I'll share the results next week, but I personally watched a lot - and so did many others. On Twitch, over 300,000 at any given time were watching SU streams, and collectively they generated 50M Watch Hours - that's 15% of the entire platform over the last week and is about 2x as big as the 2025 class. At one point, there were an extra 1.1 million viewers on Twitch! It's a big event with a lot of exposure that drives additional discovery to the platform. Whether any of those people stick around is up in the air. The problem with Streamer University (or any big event) is that it's effectively content clickbait. You brought them in on a spectacle, but will the usual content continue to hold attention?
Beyond that reality, the other problem is that many people's only exposure to the event comes from clips that don't portray it in a positive light. You may have seen clips of property damage, fights, tears, and anger. All of which unfortunately happened and are sometimes encouraged (or at least, not discouraged). But you probably didn't see the clips of human connection, genuine laughs, personal and group achievements, learning, and ego-free interactions. The only positive many will have seen came from Ludwig's class (which were legitimately great). I don't mean to lecture, but it is important to remember the world we live in (especially online) is basically always rage-farming our emotions disproportionately to what is actually happening. Just something to keep in mind as a creator! And with that, let's get into the recap.
If you enjoy my industry insight, you should also go give Ashray Urs a follow on Twitter X! Ashray is the Head of Streamlabs and provides commentary informed by that position in this industry. Things like negotiating sponsorship deals, or industry stats, how to think about monetization, or even the latest feature releases (or what's coming next!)
🟪 TWITCH
- Twitchcon tickets are slated to go on sale this week.
- Twitchcon appears to be pivoting into becoming an event for all ages. I'd wager this means they have a partnership with Roblox or Minecraft. The idea of a family-friendly Twitchcon seems... unlikely, given the attendees and historic problems.
- Now that Twitch AI is always listening, you can do "Twitch Clip That" to create clips. It will create a clip from the 30 seconds preceding you saying the command.
- New Badges: Sand💰, Meccha Chameleon💰, Twitchcon San Diego 2026💰, Control💰, Pokemon Go Instinct💰, Pokemon Go Mystic💰, Pokemon Go Valor💰
🟥 YOUTUBE
- YouTube shared a guide on converting Shorts views into Long-Form growth.
- YouTube updated the Inauthentic Content Policy, as it continues to address AI slop.
- YouTube says it contributed $60B to the US GDP in 2025.
⬛ TIKTOK
- Discord no longer offers a custom role perk for TikTok LIVE subscriptions.
- Madonna's LIVE Premiere set a platform record for live viewers, with over 2.1M unique viewers.
- TikTok is launching a new way for artists to upload and share their songs as monetized Gifts called Songs of Live.
🟦 OTHER PLATFORMS
- You can now stream to Kick from a web browser.
- Kick now shows recent active chatters. A better idea than chat-connected accounts, which leads to confusion of view count vs viewer list.
- WhatNot had an impressive brand activation pack opening area at Streamer University.
- WhatNot has acquired the AI company Shaped to accelerate its AI rollout on the platform.
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