TOGETHER WITH

It’s Thursday and Netflix has revealed the stars of its first original video podcasts: Pete Davidson and Michael Irvin.

Today’s News

CREATOR COMMOTION

Kai Cenat isn’t quitting streaming (but he is launching a new brand)

The “I Quit” video: After the conclusion of Mafiathon 3 last October, Kai Cenat took an extended break from his Twitch account. That hiatus dragged on for so long that some worried the 24-year-old creator had given up streaming entirely.

Now, Cenat is setting the record straight. In a 23-minute YouTube video titled “I Quit,” the streamer discussed some of his plans for the future—including the upcoming launch of a clothing brand called Vivet.

The context: So, is Cenat actually quitting streaming? The short answer is no.

The title of his YouTube vlog—which went up on his secret third account—references Cenat’s plan to actualize his innermost desires, not to give up on streaming altogether. (Although at one point in the video, the creator does admit to “having a lot of self-doubt…out of fear of stepping back from what I’m primarily known for, which is content creation, and pursuing another goal.”)

As he leans into embracing new goals, Cenat is diving headfirst into Vivet, which takes its name from the Latin verb meaning “to live.” The creator’s vlog outlines the steps he took to develop his fashion line, from spending three months in Italy working with industry professionals to consulting with American designers in Atlanta.

At the same time, Cenat still has plenty of other irons in the proverbial fire. His Mafiathons have shown that he has an eye for highly polished content, and his Streamer University concept proved that he can follow through on ambitious designs.

🌟 SPONSORED 🌟

Gushcloud International just acquired TalentPlus Dubai. Here’s what that means for investors:

As a global creator management and licensing company, Gushcloud International's mission is clear: to build the infrastructure, financing, and global ecosystem that transforms creators into enduring businesses. 

Now, Gushcloud is propelling that mission forward with the majority acquisition of TalentPlus Dubai.

UAE-based talent management firm TalentPlus will be renamed to Gushcloud TalentPlus, a unit dedicated to managing, representing, and investing in handpicked MENA creators globally and top global creators in MENA. CEO Michel Chahda will be appointed as Partner of Gushcloud International.

What does this mean for investors?

As the industry matures, creators are shifting from platform renters to IP owners and brand builders. Gushcloud’s acquisition of TalentPlus further expands its influence within the rapidly expanding MENA creator economy, giving investors key opportunities to capitalize on the next phase of digital media in 13+ global markets. 

Gushcloud invites investors to join it in reshaping the digital economy. 

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Global monetization startup Linguana partners with YouTubers to make their videos available in dozens of languages. Now, we’re looking at actual numbers from one of its creator clients. (Tubefilter - Partner Story)
  
  

• YouTube has announced a new teen safety tool that allows parents to “set the amount of time spent scrolling Shorts.” (YouTube)
  
  

• Former Reddit competitor Digg is back in action. The platform—which is now owned by original founder Kevin Rose and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian—launched its open beta yesterday. (TechCrunch)
  
  

• X announced on Wednesday that it has (finally) “implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing.” (Ars Technica)

GAME ON

With 420K daily Twitch viewers, is Hytale the heir to Minecraft and Roblox?

The chart-topper: Hytale just achieved one of the strongest opening days in Twitch history. After launching in early access on January 13, the Minecraft-style sandbox game rocketed up the charts by attracting over 420,000 concurrent viewers. That success easily made Hytale the most-watched game on Twitch.

Pre-purchases for Hytale have been so widespread that its developer, Hypixel Studios, is now able to cover the next two years of early access development. So, what made the game such an immediate hit?

Theory 1: Indie games rule.

Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto VI has similarly been hyped up as a potential Roblox killer—but while the sixth installment of the open-world franchise flounders in development hell, Hytale (as a more lightweight indie game) has beaten it to market. Plus, gamers simply like to see indie devs succeed.

Theory 2: Hytale may be benefiting from the Snapchat effect.

Over the years, Snapchat has remained a popular choice for teens due in large part to the simple fact that kids want to hide their activity from their parents. So, they rely on an app defined by disappearing posts.

Once a similarly adult-free haven for kids, Roblox isn’t quite in the same boat anymore. While the platform is still a big deal among youngsters, it’s now expanded to a wider demographic base and age-restricted some features. Hytale, meanwhile, is new enough that it’s still a safe space for players who grew up on servers like Hypixel.

Theory 3: There’s just something about block graphics.

A quick glance at Hytale streams reveals its similarities to Minecraft, and that’s no coincidence. The game’s designers previously created Hypixel, a Minecraft server that attracted top creators like Technoblade. At the end of the day, the power of Gen Z and Gen Alpha nostalgia—and those users’ love for Minecraft—can’t be overlooked.

TIKTOK TALK

TikTok says “curiosity detours” will captivate users - and marketers - in 2026

The forecast: TikTok‘s close connection to young consumers is an essential part of its pitch to brands—but if it’s going to sell its relevancy among Gen Z, it needs to stay on top of the cohort’s rapidly changing preferences.

That’s where TikTok Next comes in. For the sixth year in a row, TikTok is predicting where youth culture is headed over the next twelve months. The prevailing theme of 2026: “Irreplaceable Instinct.”

In essence, TikTok believes Gen Z will spend 2026 reviving the intuitive, spur-of-the-moment browsing of the 2000s—a decade when discovery engines like Digg, Stumbleupon, and (early) Reddit dictated websurfing habits.

That prediction seems pretty on-target. After all, today’s teens have already proven eager to revive the websurfing roulette experience in an era defined by demanding algorithms. Flipboard’s social media aggregator and YouTube’s “Play Anything” button are two recent examples of products that center an old-school sense of discovery.

The context: Of course, TikTok may have some ulterior motives for predicting a surge in internet-age curiosity.

Leaning into discovery often requires the use of a search engine, and TikTok still sees itself as a Google rival in that area. Its TikTok Next post, for instance, noted that Duracell was able to use search insights to find a dedicated group of fans in the K-pop community. The battery brand followed up by catering to those consumers.

That, TikTok claims, is how brands must take action in the era of “Irreplaceable Instinct”: by honing in on trends at high speed and capitalizing on those findings before the cultural winds shift once again. 

WATCH THIS 👀

What does the internet want to know about MrBeast?

The Q&A: Every celebrity from Angela Bassett to the entire cast of Sesame Street has participated in a WIRED Autocomplete Interview. Now, MrBeast is up to bat.

The star creator took his turn unraveling a cardboard cutout of Google Search results to find out what internet users are most curious to know about his YouTube empire.

We won’t give away all the questions (and answers) on that list, but the first entry isn’t exactly groundbreaking. The web’s most-asked query about the man known IRL as Jimmy Donaldson: “Why is MrBeast’s name MrBeast?”

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen.