Kai Beats Elden Ring After +150hrs, Trouble On Valorant, YouTube Upfront Presentation

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Any typos in this email are on purpose actually.

Happy Tuesday Streamers!

Some exciting news to start out this edition! The Dim The Lights Newsletter just hit 100 subscribers over the weekend. I want to thank everyone who has supported me over the last year, especially those who have encouraged me to continue writing. The newsletter has evolved quite a bit in its first year. I’m looking forward to what the next 12 months bring!

To celebrate, I’d like to offer a subscriber-exclusive giveaway! How about we make it a REALLY good one?

Shadow of the Erdtree isn’t out until June 20th, but I’ll happily offer one lucky subscriber a Steam key for the DLC. Perfect for streamers who are planning to stream Elden Ring in the near future.

If you’re reading this now, you’re already entered!

BUT here is how you can get additional entries. Use your unique referral link (see below) to let another streamer know about the newsletter. Each new referral earns you an additional entry.

Oh, and by the way, those referrals also count toward my referral program where you can earn even more cool prizes!

I will be announcing the winner of the giveaway on June 1st, 2024.

Enjoy your reading,

Dim

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In This Edition

• Tuesday ToDos

• This Week's Top Stories

• Twitch Platform Updates

• YouTube Platform Updates

• Creator News

• Streaming News

• Gaming News

✅Tuesday To-Dos

Every week I bring you🖐️ actionable tasks to help you improve your content. See what’s new this week 👇

1. 🎮 Play - Thinking about your next playthrough? Check out this thread of top games available on itch.io. See Tweet

2. 📺 Watch - Day Of Devs returns June 7th to showcase sneak peeks of upcoming indie games. Great opportunity to cover the event live! See Tweet

3. 🤝 Join - The Latin American Games Showcase starts June 8th. Register to co-stream the event for access to game keys, demos, and dev interviews! Sign Up

4. ⬇️ Download - A creator named Nao released over 3,000 FREE video editing assets for content creators. Includes green screen assets, and more. Learn More

5. 🎼 Explore - Lo-Fi Girl’s room is now a playable map in Fortnite! Go live now! Watch Teaser

🥇This Week’s Top Stories

Kai Beats Elden Ring After +150hr Playthrough

Kai Cenat has become a name synonymous with breaking barriers in the streaming world. Known for clinching multiple ‘Streamer of the Year’ awards and boasting the record for the highest number of subscribers on Twitch, Kai continues to captivate audiences with what might be his toughest challenge yet: conquering the notoriously difficult game, Elden Ring.

But Kai didn't just dive into the game—he turned it into a spectacle with a hype-building trailer and some fun props in his stream room. Take notes streamers: the excitement starts before the stream even goes live!

After an intense 156 hours and a staggering 1,701 deaths, Kai emerged victorious. The formidable boss Malenia, who accounted for 400 of those deaths, finally fell. This monumental achievement wasn’t just a personal victory for Kai; it catapulted Elden Ring back into the Twitch spotlight, boosting its viewership by 283% that week. Great timing considering FromSoftware is releasing DLC for the game in less than a month.

I even noticed a few mutuals pick up Elden Ring! Coincidence????

The climax of Kai’s marathon was shared on Twitter, quickly racking up 7.6 million views. His stream peaked at an impressive 230,000 concurrent viewers, highlighting his massive influence on the platform.

Kai's journey through Elden Ring is more than just gameplay—it's a testament to how engaging content can captivate and grow an audience, regardless of the streamer's skill level. It’s a powerful reminder of the potential within each streamer to leverage their unique personality and creative ideas to entertain and engage viewers.

For those crafting their path in the competitive world of streaming, Kai’s approach offers valuable lessons in audience engagement, resilience, and the art of turning every stream into a must-watch event.

A Discussion on Sexual Harassment in Gaming

TW: r*pe, SA

Last week, a disturbing incident during a Valorant game captured on video went viral on Twitter, amassing over 40 million views. The clip featured Twitch streamer TaylorMorgan, who was subjected to a shocking threat of r*pe by a male player during the game. The severity of the comments forced Taylor to abruptly leave the game, highlighting a well-known issue within the gaming community: the gaming industry does not protect female gamers from online harassment.

In her post, Taylor criticized Riot Games for their inadequate measures to protect female players from such harassment. The tweet sparked widespread discussion, receiving over 14,000 responses. While many expressed support for Taylor, alarmingly, some users attacked her and even sided with the aggressor.

Those misogynists often like to say that women make up a minority of gamers, but the truth is that women constituted 46% of gamers in 2023. A separate 2021 survey also revealed that 49% of female gamers had experienced online harassment, marking an 8% increase from the previous year.

Despite numerous calls for action, there's no indication that Riot Games has addressed this specific case. This event is part of a longstanding issue of harassment in gaming, which has seen some progress over the years but still requires much more effort from both gaming studios and platforms to create a safer environment.

📥More Great Content. Right To Your Inbox.📥

Your free subscription helps support my work!

• The new Raid Browser feature will be available to all users in June. See Tweet

• Rejoice! Twitch emotes are once again allowed to throw a** See Article

• Twitch’s first-party streaming software, Twitch Studio, is shutting down at the end of the month. See Article

• The Twitch Partner Discord has been restructured into 9 individual region-specific Discords. Any partnered Twitch streamers willing to talk to me about this, DM me. Learn More

• A percentage of live streamers have access to an experimental feature to allow incremental (25%, 50%, 75%) goals for subs, follows, and bits. See Tweet

• Amazon is in the process of developing The Glitch, a galaxy of brand-customized, playable worlds, distributed in Fortnite, and built specifically for gaming communities on Twitch. See Article

• Concurrent bots on channels have been reduced to 100, whoo! See Thread

• During YouTube’s 2024 Upfronts presentation, they shared several key insights:

  • YouTube shared Nielsen data stating the streaming platform has reigned as most-watched in the U.S. every month since early 2023.

  • YouTube TV has over 8 million paid subscribers.

  • Brands will now own 100% share of voice on top creator’s channels as part of YouTube Select Creator Takeovers. Read Article

• YouTube spotlights several Shorts creators in celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Read Article

• YouTube Gaming highlights 15 years of Minecraft and introduced a new Shorts filter to celebrate the occasion. See Tweet

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🎙️ Creator News

• MrBeast partners with Zaxby’s to launch the MrBeast Box Meal. See Announcement

• IGN (weakly) apologized for sharing a distasteful (and totally unrelated) tweet referencing a previous situation where Kai Cenat accidentally incited a riot in New York City. See Tweet

• YouTuber Andre Rebelo, aka Typical Gamer, has launched a gaming venture, JOGO, putting $2 million towards helping creators develop custom Fortnite content. Read Article

• Katliente has just announced the top 100 creators moving on to the next stage of Creator Royale 2. See Announcement

• theGameHers and Music Is Unity Foundation are teaming up with several creators for a fundraising initiative to support foster youth aging out of the system. Watch VOD

• GameSquare introduces Faze Media, a new company focusing on creator-driven IP and media. Read Article

🔴Streaming News

• TikTok usage in the U.S. has skyrocketed, with 21% of Americans now logging on weekly—a fourfold increase since 2021. Read Article

• Adam Mosseri kicks off Instagram's new series, Creator POV, sitting down with comedian Ezee to dive deep into the issues IG creators face today. Watch On IG

• In the same interview, Instagram's Adam Mosseri reveals that sharing posts is crucial for boosting your reach on the platform. Read Article

• TikTok is pushing the boundaries again, this time testing the waters with 60-minute videos. Read Article

• OpenAI partners with Reddit to integrate user-generated content into ChatGPT, opening new avenues for AI interaction. Read Article

🎮 Gaming News

• Ahead of the release of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, developer Ninja Theory shared a rather chilling message with fans. See Tweet

• Ubisoft unveiled the latest Assassin's Creed game, featuring two playable protagonists for the first time—one based on a historical figure! Watch Trailer

• The upcoming JRPG Alzara: Radiant Echoes smashed its Kickstarter goal, hitting 100K euros in less than two days! See Campaign

• Fallout teases an epic crossover with Fortnite in Chapter 5 Season 3. See Tweet

• Multiversus is back after a year long break, adding horror icon Jason Voorhees and The Matrix’s Agent Smith to its roster. Watch Trailer

• Kingdom Hearts will be available me on Steam next month! See Announcement

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Thank you so much for reading and I hope to see you next week!

-Dim

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