Streamer Kai Cenat earns millions, breaks Twitch subscriber record during 30-day livestream

Creator Kai Cenat broke the record for the highest subscriber count on Amazon‘s Twitch during a nonstop live stream for the entire month of November.

Cenat is a 22-year-old streamer who rose to popularity over the past two years with livestreams focused on comedy, gaming and pranks. He completed a so-called subathon on Saturday, streaming 24 hours a day for 30 days. A subathon is a streaming event where each new subscription or donation extends the stream’s duration, often leading to marathon sessions. 

During the stream, called Mafiathon 2, Cenat surpassed the previous subscriber record on Twitch, reaching nearly 727,700 subscribers by the end of November, a Twitch spokesperson said. Cenat also had 50 million unique viewers during this time.

Twitch subscribers usually pay $4.99 per month for perks such as ad-free viewing, exclusive emotes and access to subscriber-only chats with their favorite streamers. Twitch typically takes a 50% cut of subscriber revenue but reduces its share to between 30% and 40% for its top creators. Cenat’s team did not disclose how much he earned from the subathon, but based on his Tier 1 subscriptions, he may have earned about $3.6 million in revenue, with Twitch taking a cut of that amount.

“I love y’all so much,” Cenat said in the final moments of his 30-day stream at his mansion in Los Angeles. “Without y’all, I am nothing.”

Cenat’s stream doubled the previous Twitch subscriber record set by virtual streamer Ironmouse during a subathon in September, reaching more than 326,250 subscribers. Cenat and Ironmouse’s subathons highlight a trend among streamers to use multiday live streaming events to captivate audiences and significantly boost subscriber numbers and earnings.

During the livestream, many celebrity guests joined Cenat on his stream, including rapper Snoop Dogg, scientist Bill Nye and comedian Kevin Hart. With these guests, Cenat managed to continue his stream overnight uninterrupted while sleeping, eating and using the bathroom. During times he was off-screen, he would have other members from his team take over to entertain the thousands of viewers.

Cenat is now the biggest streamer on the internet, with mass followings across most social media platforms. He has 15.4 million followers on Twitch, 6.7 million on YouTube, 12 million on Instagram and 2.6 million on X.

Cenat said he will be donating 20% of the proceeds made from subscriptions during the stream toward a school he is helping build in Nigeria after visiting a settlement in Makoko.

“I visited Nigeria not too long ago & absolutely loved it,” Cenat said in a post on his Instagram story. “We will be going out of pocket funding this entire project with full staff, classrooms, uniforms etc.” 

The popular live streamer has faced controversy in the past. In 2023, he was charged with inciting a riot after a New York City giveaway turned into chaos. However, the Manhattan District Attorney decided not to prosecute. 

Twitch has become increasingly popular, attracting more than 105 million active monthly visitors with streaming playing a larger role in the creator economy.

Despite this growth, Amazon, which acquired Twitch for nearly $1 billion in 2014, has yet to see the platform turn a profit, according to The Wall Street Journal.