TwitchCon Attendees Have Declared Who The Biggest Streamer Is Right Now

If you were asked who the biggest streamer right now is, what would your answer be? If you’re the TwitchCon attendees, it’s likely that your response to that question would almost universally be echoed: Kai Cenat.

While at TwitchCon 2024 in sunny San Diego, California, Complex stopped anyone and everyone who was down to chat about their thoughts on who the biggest streamer is. While Kai Cenat emerged as the clear favorite, the top of the mountain isn’t lonely for him. According to regular-degular folks, as well as staff and other streamers, the Mount Rushmore of Streaming right now definitely includes Kai Cenat and IShowSpeed.

But those two names, although obvious, aren’t the only ones people are paying attention to. Between Kick, Twitch, YouTube, and the various other platforms with livestreaming capabilities—such as Instagram Live and TikTok Live—TwitchCon attendees threw a bunch of names into the bucket for the biggest streamer right now. Some you might know, others you’ve probably never even heard of. That’s the beauty of livestreaming; anyone can be a streamer and anyone, at any point, can build a community that will support their passions. Period.

So, if there are hundreds—definitely thousands, maybe millions—of livestreamers, and if Kai Cenat and IShowSpeed are two of the top, who are other creators folks at TwitchCon love? Complex went to find out.

TwitchCon Attendees Run The Gamut Of Streamers

Two TwitchCon friends said the biggest streamer is “probably Kai Cenat” or Ray, a kinda-sorta member of the AMP crew who regularly shows up in that group’s streams. Two other people on the floor said Pokimane, a variety streamer who’s a household name on Twitch. Another person, though, said Kai Cenat or IShowSpeed

Someone else at TwitchCon said IShowSpeed because he’s “killing it right now” in the streaming game, alongside Kai Cenat. A separate group of friends said Kai Cenat is “pretty big right now,” especially with his Kevin Hart sleepover stream. A friend in that same group shouted out the friend with them, charmandy, a variety streamer who mostly plays Hoyoverse’s 2020 action-RPG Genshin Impact. The third friend in this group said Just Chatting streamer and TikToker CaseOh, while the fourth friend said singer-songwriter Madison Beer, who also happens to be a Just Chatting Twitch streamer that plays games from time to time.

Two friends dressed in black who happen to watch VTubers—creators who use animated virtual avatars as their online personas—almost exclusively said Ironmouse. For those who don’t know, Ironmouse is a singer and streamer. She’s been active since 2017, helped establish the widely popular VShojo VTuber talent agency in 2020, and recently became the most subscribed Twitch streamer right now—surpassing even Kai Cenat.

Some other guy, also dressed in black, gave flowers to Kai Cenat, saying he’s a “hilarious guy.” “I love the guy,” said this TwitchCon attendee. “He’s expressive, does a lotta things, and he’s culturally a very open guy.” This TwitchCon goer also mentioned Ray, who’s currently in Taiwan but intends to rejoin Kai’s AMP group soon.

Two guys in cosplay, one dressed as Cyno from Genshin Impact and the other as Sam from miHoYo’s 2023 turn-based RPG Honkai: Star Rail, answered the question, too. Kind of. Cyno passed because he said he was hungover and his brain was dead. Sam, though, said YouTuber Markiplier because he “grew up on the dude.”

A woman in Gengar cosplay, who referees for the Pokémon Trading Card Game, said she mostly watches Pokémon creators. Being so immersed in that fandom, Gengar said her favorite is ADarkLegacy. “He does all Pokémon giveaways absolutely free on Twitch every week,” she said. “It’s so cool to see somebody just giving away stuff for free all the time.”

Wario and Waluigi cosplayers also gave some answers. Waluigi said gamer and musician streamer Detune because their broadcasts, like a live ghost hunt, are “really engaging, fun, and different.” Meanwhile, Wario said CaseOh because “he’s been having an amazing year with a ton of great clips popping up everywhere.”

Twitch Streamers Are Stuck Between Just A Few Names

Mari, who used to moderate streamer and YouTuber ImDontai’s Twitch chat but now does laidback and vibey variety streams, said the answer is too obvious: Kai Cenat. “I feel like, and this not even no glaze, but he is doing stuff,” she told Complex in an interview. “A lotta the top streamers get money, but I feel like a lotta them don’t utilize the subs that they get and the earnings that they get. I feel like he puts his all into his video game streams, and he makes his streams enjoyable. He knows that people are subbing to him for a reason, and he wants to give people what they’re subbing for. I feel like a lotta streamers don’t do that. They lose the grind.”

Hannahxxrose, a bubbly streamer who mostly plays Mojang’s 2011 sandbox game Minecraft, said there are a lot of streamers popping off right now. It was tough choosing just one creator for her. However, after giving the question some thought, she decided on CaseOh because of the downloadable Dress To Impress fashion game in Roblox Corporation’s eponymous 2006 online sandbox game, Roblox. “Shout out Dress To Impress,” she said. “We love to see men playing that game because usually it’s a girly game. But it’s for everyone.”

Destiny streamer EpicDan22 didn’t give the question a second thought because he had an immediate answer when prompted. “It’s gotta be Kai, easily” he told Complex in an interview. “No one’s doing what Kai’s doing.”

Like other people, NSFW fitness and gaming streamer Morgpie said Kai Cenat. “In terms of the shows he puts on on stream and everything he does, the size of his influence,” she said. “CaseOh is up there, too, but CaseOh is TikTok influence whereas Kai and Speed are IRL influential. No offense to CaseOh, we love CaseOh.”

Political commentating and gaming streamer Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker also championed IShowSpeed in a September 22 Complex interview, distilling the magnitude of his influence. “Speed is killing it,” he said. “He had an Indonesia stream that had one million live concurrent viewers. […] I really, really appreciate all the things that he's been doing. I appreciate his own personal journey, his own development, and I hope he continues being a empathetic and kind person. I really respect that. […] He’s such a massive content creator that is so impactful and so famous among gen alpha and gen Z. He’s openly pro-Palestinian, not transphobic as far as I have seen. Those are things that I consider to be unfortunately not very commonplace in media. And so when I see that, I don't take it for granted. I always cherish that. But beyond that, he is a very entertaining figure.”

Complex also managed to chat with Twitch CEO Dan Clancy during the three-day event. We popped the same question, and though he dodged because all streamers are big in their own way and in their own regions, Clancy did mention that Kai Cenat is doing some incredible things on the platform right now. That’s a cosign.

It’s really no surprise hearing Kai Cenat and IShowSpeed’s names over and over again. They’re producing incredible broadcasts, breaking concurrent viewer records, and successfully bridging the gap between Hollywood celebrity and internet celebrity. These two are truly the definition of livestreaming right now. Still, it’s good hearing other names get some recognition as well. Even if most of these creators have millions of followers across the internet, the above diversity in streamer selection keeps this burgeoning industry alive and well. No tea, no shade, but not everyone always wants to see the same person at the very top all of the time.

So, if you were asked who the biggest streamer is right now, who you got? Kai Cenat? IShowSpeed? Ironmouse, CaseOh, Pokimane, or any of the other names mentioned? Someone else? Let us know in the comments.