YouTube streamer Ben ‘DrLupo’ Lupo has taken aim at Twitch creators refusing to run ads on their channel amid recent debate over the platform’s monetization policies.
As Twitch pushes to become more profitable, the platform has implemented many creator revenue changes over the years.
Notably, the Amazon-owned platform recently denied requests for the 70/30 revenue sub-split to become the standard, rather than it being exclusive for the top creators on the site.
After noting the high overhead costs to keep the site running, Twitch has pushed for creators to run more ads through their incentives program.
However, streamers are still reluctant to run ads, and now YouTube streamer Dr Lupo has hit out at the creators for not doing their jobs.
Dr Lupo slams Twitch streamers not running ads
In a YouTube video on October 21, the former Twitch streamer, who left the platform to join YouTube in September 2021, discussed the new ad incentives.
“Here’s what it comes down to chat. Twitch is a business. I think we can all agree businesses are trying to be profitable,” said Dr Lupo. “If they’re not profitable for a long enough time, the business stops existing.
“At the end of the day, Twitch is gonna try to make as much money to stay alive. For example, look at G4, literally just announced its second closure,” he added.
“So you see streamers that are posting these big numbers that are life ‘I’m not gonna run ads because I care about my community.’ It’s a weird flex to say look at this money I could’ve had and I’m not doing it because I love you. You’re at your job. Part of your job is to try and help keep your platform alive too.”
He continued, explaining that if Twitch can turn a profit, then maybe the platform will eventually consider higher revenue splits.
But till then, all streamers on Twitch need to put in the effort to help keep the site afloat.
Why did DrLupo leave Twitch?
On August 30th, 2021, Dr Lupo left Twitch for an exclusive new deal with YouTube Gaming that he says was very lucrative. Dr Lupo was a flagship creator on Twitch, and the platform said they wished him “nothing but the best in everything that comes next”.
The 35-year-old streamer said he’s now ‘secure for life’
Twitch streamers have slowly but surely been transitioning to other platforms. Since 2020, big names like Valkyrae, Dr. Disrespect, and CouRageJD among others have left for exclusive deals with YouTube Gaming. Popular variety streamer Benjamin “DrLupo” Lupo is among the tall list of streamers who have left Twitch.
During an interview with the Washington Post, DrLupo described the deal without offering too many details. “Everybody’s just trying to secure the bag, right? There’s no shame in that,” he mentioned. “That’s literally why everybody gets up and goes to work, right?” he went on to say. “So of course, the financial situation that YouTube presented me without a doubt is like, you know, I’m secure for life. Everybody’s trying to get to that point. Why would I say no to that?”
Financial incentives aside, DrLupo is married with a young son. He says the move to YouTube will give him more time to spend with his family. Though fortunately for fans, he’ll still continue to create plenty of gaming content on his new platform. “Obviously, I’ll still be playing video games on YouTube,” he said.
“But we have a chance now to do some new stuff. We’ve got some trips coming up, so there’ll be behind-the-scenes stuff. I can record some vlog-style content, and a lot of people who are at my level that are dads don’t really put out that kind of stuff.”
Twitch says goodbye to Dr Lupo
Twitch took to Twitter to wish DrLupo good luck in his future endeavors. Often called the dad of Twitch, he’s been a staple on the platform since 2015. His popularity skyrocketing during the rise of Fortnite in 2018 alongside Ninja, CouRage JD, and Nickmercs.
In addition to gaming, DrLupo is known for his legendary St. Jude’s charity streams. He raised $600,000 during a 2018 stream, only to be outdone by the following year’s event. During this non-stop 24-hour stream he raised an astonishing $2.3 million for the children’s hospital.
DrLupo cites his charity streams as one of the major accomplishments in his career. “If after six years my list of accomplishments includes raising almost $10 million for St. Jude,” he said, “if I’ve fallen off, then man, it sure sounds like I did a damn good job during my heyday or whatever you want to call it.”
