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Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry. This week, a popular streamer got some surprising news about Twitch’s emotes, the Sidemen made a big announcement related their next charity soccer match, and an anthropomorphic peanut is the hottest thing in the streamer world. Creator commotion Maya Higa had no idea she’d been a Twitch emote for years. Through the 7TV extension, thousands of Twitch channels have enabled an emote featuring Higa’s laughing face, and she only found out about it recently. It’s not the unexpected publicity that seems to be bothering her — it’s the quality of the emote itself. “It’s not even good,” she said. “Is this my claim to fame?” Subscribe to get the latest creator news Subscribe Hasan Piker got banned on Twitch and reinstated (again). The political streamer’s seventh ban was the result of comments he made related to ICE, but he was only offline for a few days until the ban was lifted. If Piker gets to ten Twitch bans and fills out his punch card, does he get the 11th ban for free? The sports report

OnlyFans millionaire Nala Ray is once again at the center of an internet firestorm after making a bold claim about her former line of work. In a recent interview with Fox News, Ray — who has since pivoted away from adult content and into faith-based lifestyle content — argued that OnlyFans and adult content creation shouldn’t be considered “real work.” Speaking about U.S. immigration policy and so-called “extraordinary ability” visas, Ray said, “OnlyFans work and adult content is not real work and shouldn’t be allowed, even to cross our borders to get even more infiltrated into our society.” “I don’t see adult content as good work,” she continued, adding that she does view other forms of social media creation as legitimate. “I do think that other people from other countries who do come to do real work on social media here, is a good thing. I don’t see why we should ever ban something like that because being on social media is hard work sometimes.” Some viewers applauded Ray for speaking out, particularly those who support her highly publicized shift toward Christianity. Others, however, were far less impressed — including Twitch streamer Dan Dangler, who quickly weighed in. On Tuesday

Recent research highlights how inequalities in platform policies, advertiser demand, and payment infrastructure shape creator income outcomes around the world. A report published by Communiqué and TM Global titled “Africa Creator Economy Report 2.0” documents persistent gaps in how creators are paid across regions, with African creators facing materially different monetization outcomes from their counterparts in the United States and Europe.  While the report focuses on African markets, its findings describe platform mechanisms that apply broadly across the global creator economy. The report examines creator income, monetization access, and investment across multiple African countries and platforms. It finds that many of the constraints affecting African creators are not unique to the continent, but reflect how major platforms structure eligibility, advertising demand, and payouts by region. Earnings Disparities Tied to Platform Mechanics One data point highlighted in the report shows African creators typically earning less than $1 per 1,000 views, compared with $3 to $10 per 1,000 views reported for creators in the United States or Europe. The report links this gap to a combination of factors, including payment ineligibility for certain monetization programs, inconsistent CPMs (Cost per Mille) for locally generated traffic, and lower advertiser demand in African markets. These

Prepare to witness the next chapter of Diablo IV. On February 11th, tune in to our Diablo 30th Anniversary Spotlight where we’ll unveil the next class arriving with Lord of Hatred, a new force in Sanctuary that will reshape how you fight, survive and master the battlefield. We’ll also dive deeper into major updates to skill trees and new endgame systems that were first revealed in December. In addition to seeing what’s next for Diablo IV, you’ll also get a glimpse at what’s coming next for Diablo Immortal, Diablo II: Resurrected. Tune-in to our official Twitch and YouTube channels to catch the broadcast. For the first time on Twitch, earn the mark of Diablo and wear your dark allegiance proudly across the platform. From February 11, 2 p.m.—February 25, 11:59 p.m. PST, subscribe to any eligible streamer in the Diablo IV category to unlock this exclusive gothic badge—reserved for those who answered the call. Hot off the heels of the Diablo Spotlight, join us in the Sanctuary Discord on February 12 at 11 a.m. PST to sit down with developers to discuss everything covered in the broadcast. Join the live Q&A segment in the Sanctuary Discord where we’ll answer your

The event which Twitch Rivals organizes as the Bloxfest Grand Finals will showcase the Roblox tournament competition known as RB Battles. The competition will occur on February 26th and 27th when eight top Roblox creators will compete for victory. The Twitch stream will broadcast the event which allows viewers to watch and obtain special in-game items through their Roblox partnership with the platform. Twitch Rivals returns again to host its new Roblox-based event which has become a major milestone for the platform. The Bloxfest Grand Finals are taking place because they have partnered with RB Battles which is well-known in that community. The first day of the tournament will feature eight teams who will battle in multiple chaotic block-based challenges. The Twitch stream will experience high viewership on February 26th and 27th. The announcement tweet was all hype because it described both epic tournaments and exclusive rewards which are standard for these events. But the actual truth of the matter exists within the responses. The atmosphere there creates one entire mood. The user playbattlerise described the event as “epic” while announcing that the editing reached its “peak” level which led people to show their excitement through their comments. Cory shows

Grab your favorite superhero outfit for Dispatch! Tonight, on The Stevetendo Show, we’re starting something brand new. Swing by The Stevetendo Show this evening for the start of a Dispatch playthrough. Things have been a little rocky for Dispatch regarding the Nintendo Switch 2 version with regard to censorship. Be that as it may, your old pal Stevetendo is here to fill in the blanks as well as provide the “moans” when needed. Dispatch reminds me a lot of the old Telltale Games, where you have options, and those decisions made by the player alter what happens. I have heard that each episode of the game takes about an hour, so fingers crossed we’ll be able to get through the first two episodes this evening. I was very close to becoming a 9-1-1 operator/dispatcher when I was working security, so we’ll see how close to home Dispatch gets for me. Set to go live at 5 p.m. PDT/8 p.m. EDT, join The Stevetendo Show for the start of Shacknews’s Game of the Year for 2025, Dispatch! Always check your headset before shift, folks!©AdHoc Studio Shackers who want to join in on the fun can head over to the Shacknews Twitch

If you have ever tried to start a Twitch channel, you know the struggle. You spend hours setting up your OBS overlays, you buy a ring light that blinds you every time you look left, and you curate the perfect “Starting Soon” playlist. You go live, full of energy, ready to be the next big variety streamer. And then… silence. The viewer count hovers at 1 (and you’re pretty sure that 1 is just your phone monitoring the chat). Welcome to the Twitch “grind.” It’s a rite of passage for every streamer, from the casual gamer to the aspiring e-sports pro. But in a world where visibility equals currency, streamers are increasingly looking for ways to hack the system. This has led to the rise of a controversial but booming underground industry: the  twitch view bot . But what exactly are these tools? Are they the secret weapon for live stream growth, or are they a one-way ticket to a banned account? Let’s geek out on the tech, the ethics, and the reality of automated growth in the streaming world. The Algorithm: Why Streamers Getting Desperate? To understand why anyone would use a bot, you have to understand the Gamification of

Marvel Rivals Season 6 is setting itself up to be the best one yet, as they're incorporating at ton of changes that all seem positive thus far.  Now, NetEase has announced another round of Twitch Drops for players to earn, and we're going to run over it all below.  Marvel Rivals Season 6 Twitch Drops: Dates, Rewards and More Season 6 is going to be released on January 16th, 2026, and while most of our attention is going to be directed towards the new hero, Deadpool, there's also going to be some new Twitch Drops for players to earn. This time around, the free cosmetic will be for Invisible Women, who has been getting a lot of love lately.  The drops will be active from January 16th, 2026, at 12:00:00 (UTC) to February 13th, 2026, at 09:00:00 (UTC) and we'll be sure to provide future updates if anything changes. In the meantime, be sure to check out our Vulcan II TKL Pro, which is an exceptional choice for all FPS titles. 

Brookhaven police arrested 19-year-old rapper and Twitch streamer Aspen Easterling, who performs under the name Aspen Kartier, after a video showing her allegedly abusing a puppy surfaced on social media. Fox5 Atlanta reported that the department received numerous complaints about the videos which appeared to depict Easterling hitting a 3-month-old Maltipoo on a Twitch stream. Following these allegations, officers executed a search warrant at a residence on the 1000 block of Town Boulevard at around 9:35 p.m. last Friday, and, Easterling was subsequently arrested and taken to the DeKalb County Jail. "The police department said it received numerous complaints about the videos allegedly showing 19-year-old Aspen Easterling, also known as Aspen Kartier, hitting the dog on a Twitch stream," Fox5 Atlanta reported. The puppy involved in the incident was located by officers and appeared to be in good health at the time of the discovery. Easterling now faces animal cruelty charges, and DeKalb County Animal Control has taken custody of the dog as a safeguard. WSBTV relayed that Easterling's Twitch channel has been made temporarily unavailable as it violates community guidelines, while PETA expressed condemnation for her actions by posting a clip of the viral videos on their platform. Much

"After six years of exclusive streaming on Twitch, today I am doing my first live stream on YouTube," said Ibai Llanos. Anything he says immediately becomes news, but some statements cause real earthquakes. It wasn't his first encounter with the red play button platform; a year earlier, the Bilbao native had hinted at his intentions to land in the ecosystem that created the profession of which he is the undisputed king: "Those 900 hours I was investing in Twitch, I will now invest in YouTube. It's less demanding. I want to spend more time with my family, take care of myself, and work on projects that truly motivate me," he said back then. But on January 17, the definitive announcement came, putting a face and eyes to a trend that was growing louder and could be summarized in a statement so repeated that we could call it viral without fear of being wrong: "I'm coming back to YouTube." "Content creators are indeed returning to YouTube. It was easy to hear four or five years ago that the platform had become outdated, but there has been a pendulum swing that has brought it back to a leadership position," confirms Luis Calvo