Twitch streamer Pokimane signs exclusive deal to stay on the platform

Imane “Pokimane” Anys, one of Twitch’s most popular streamers, will remain on the platform thanks to a new, exclusive deal with the streaming service.

Pokimane made the announcement with a lavish and on-brand hype video. The video starts with the ubiquitous trailer voice teasing a massive new announcement before Pokimane shows up to tell everyone that she’s not announcing anything. Because she’s staying on Twitch.

Pokimane, who is represented by United Talent Agency, started streaming on Twitch six years ago and has since built one of the platform’s largest followings. With nearly 4 million followers, she’s one of the top 10 most-followed channels. Pokimane’s Twitch success has also translated to other platforms, with 4.6 million subscribers on YouTube and the same amount of followers on Instagram. Earlier this year, Pokimane announced that she is providing $50,000 in gifts to the University of California, Irvine’s esports department.

Her decision to stay with Twitch comes after a number of the platform’s highest profile streamers leaving for exclusive deals with other sites. The wave of departures from Twitch began last summer when Tyler “Ninja” Blevins signed an exclusive deal with Mixer. Ninja was followed to Mixer shortly after by Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek, while streamers like Jack “Courage” Dunlop began streaming on YouTube and Jeremy “DisguisedToast” Wang moved to Facebook Gaming. More recently, however, streamers like Benjamin “Dr. Lupo” Lupo, Saqib “Lirik” Zahid, and Tim “TimTheTatman” Betar have chosen to stay with Twitch.