Get your Kick, with a side of fries

Good morning. If you hadn’t heard of Kick until last week, well, you are not alone.

xQc gets his Kick(s)

One of Twitch’s biggest streamers xQc announced he is moving to streaming startup Kick on a deal that will pay him between $70-100 million over two years. xQc, whose real name is Félix Lengyel, has 11.8 million followers on Twitch. The deal is non-exclusive, and xQc says he still plans to stream on Twitch, but "not nearly as often."

The deal comes as Twitch has changed its terms of services for streamers, taking a larger portion of shared revenue between streamers and the service, while attempting to implement guidelines on how streamers can make money on their streams. Many streamers have voiced their displeasure in changes to the terms of service.

But what is Kick? The streaming service competitor launched in early 2023. The startup is backed by online casinos and gambling sites from Australia. Kick is pulling in big-name streamers due to its 95-5 percent revenue split, with creators taking home the larger percent. Compare this with a 70-30 revenue split for YouTube and 50-50 (recently changed to 70-30) on Twitch. Still, Kick is averaging 110,000 livestreams a day, compared with seventeen million on Twitch.

Will more creators make the switch to Kick? Time will tell.

Don’t Grimace at these marketing gimmicks

McDonald’s released a new video game this week called Grimace’s Birthday for the Game Boy.

No, you did not misread that last sentence.

Grimace’s Birthday can also be played online, for those who sold their Game Boy consoles years ago. The platformer is a tie-in for the limited edition Grimace’s Birthday Meal. It follows a trend of games for brand awareness.

McDonald’s was not the only company to release a game this week, as Google implemented minigames on their site when you search for Katamari or Splatoon.

Other companies have created games for marketing purposes, many of which are quite fun, if laced with marketing materials. I Love You Colonel Sanders, a dating simulator by KFC, Feast of Legends, a role-playing game by Wendy’s and Sneak King, a creepy Xbox game by Burger King are just a few.

Have a favorite corporate game? Let us know in the comments.

Side quests (more stories worth reading)

🎮 We posted our favorite games from Summer Game Fest week. Which are you most excited for?

🤯There’s a new Rubik’s Cube world record: 3.13 seconds.

👨🏽‍⚖️ A judge temporarily blocked Microsoft's acquisition of Activision at the request of US regulators. Reuters has a breakdown of what could happen next in the Microsoft Activision deal.

☁️ Sony is testing PlayStation cloud streaming for its PS Plus Premium users. How does its streaming compare with Xbox?

🚓 Rockstar Games Co-Founder Dan Houser launched Absurd Ventures, a studio aimed at games, TV and multiplatform content.

🕹 You may have noticed Steam made some changes to their user interface. It includes hardware acceleration for Mac and Linux.

😈 Blizzard says sales of Diablo IV surpassed $666 million in five days. They also claim there is no cow level. Or is there?

👩🏿 Dr. Kishonna Gray studies race and gender in gaming. Learn more about her and her research.

🎮 Microsoft says it is no longer making games for the Xbox One.

🐉 Want to try Final Fantasy XVI before it releases this week? You can download a demo for PlayStation 5.

🖊️ Want to be a video game writer? Matt Forbeck has some advice for those starting out.

New Releases this week:

6/20: Aliens: Dark Descent (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
6/20: Crash Team Rumble (PlayStation and Xbox)
6/21: Trepang2 (PC)
6/22: Dr. Fetus' Mean Meat Machine (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)
6/22: Final Fantasy XVI (PlayStation)
6/22: Forever Skies (PC)
6/22: The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
6/22: Six Days in Fallujah (PC)

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