It's Thursday and a Halloween redesign has Fortnite players wondering: is the online game angling to become the next YouTube?

CASHING IN

Streamers will earn hourly wages as Kick’s Creator Incentive Program enters Phase 2

Kick is serious about creator compensation. Since launching last year, the platform has raised plenty of eyebrows (and poached several Twitch stars) by handing out multi-million-dollar streaming contracts, investing in homegrown talent, and providing hands-on guidance through its Creator Incentive Program.

Phase 1 of that program produced impressive results, with 33 participating creators averaging about 200 new paid subscribers and 1,500 new followers over 30 days.

Now, 50 creators have been selected to take part in Phase 2.

Kick Head of Strategic Partnerships Andrew Santamaria revealed the identities of those streamers on LinkedIn, and the list includes some big names. According to StreamsCharts, top-performing participants like ZombieBarricades and Schlump are already pulling in more than 25,000 hours of watch time per week.

Those kinds of stats will turn into real-life profits for creators entering Kick’s Incentive Program. Participants in Phase 2 will receive hourly compensation for their streams, with payments scaling up alongside increases in watch time and follower counts.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Creator company Jellysmack has acquired the Law&Crime Network, a legal contemt destination backed by A&E Networks. (Tubefilter)
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• Twitch has reinstated iShowSpeed’s account following a ban of almost two years. (Tubefilter)
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• YouTube and TikTok star Michael Le has signed with CAA after collecting “more than 68 million followers” across multiple platforms. (Deadline)
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• TikTok has announced upcoming changes that will open its Effect Creator Reward program to smaller creators across 14 additional countries. (Engadget)

DATA • STREAMERS ON THE RISE 📈

This 58-year-old grandma got her start playing Pong. Now, she kicks ass in Call of Duty.

Michelle Statham first picked up a controller when she was just seven years old. Back then, the creator’s game of choice was Pong and she vanquished her rivals (aka Mom and Dad) on an Atari 2006.

These days, you’re more likely to find Statham KO’ing players in Call of Duty.

The transition from Pong to COD wasn’t exactly a straight shot. As Stratham (aka TacticalGramma) grew up, she switched from Atari to Nintendo, and then to systems like Xbox and Playstation. Games like Madden and FIFA became go-to date night activities for Stratham and her husband. And then, four years ago, the creator developed arthritis.

Her days of playing on a controller came to an abrupt end.

Still, Stratham wasn’t willing to give up on her favorite hobby. She switched to a keyboard and mouse, and began watching gaming streams to learn the ropes. It wasn’t long before Stratham’s husband and son decided it was time for her to begin streaming, too. She wasn’t so sure.

As it turns out, viewers absolutely did want to watch a 54-year-old play video games. Stratham quickly built up an audience on Facebook before expanding to YouTube and TikTok (where she now claims 1.6 million followers). Nowadays, the creator is a Twitch partner and “loving it”—but she also has big plans for a podcast, a YouTube series, and more.

TOP 5 BRANDED VIDEOS 📈

Ready to dive into the world of YouTube sponsorships? Check out these viral branded videos:

Gospel Stats is back with the latest branded video data and this week’s round-up is a wild one. Between September 27 and October 1, YouTube’s most-viewed sponsored clips featured a bite-sized Nerf gun, a grandma-themed phone accessory, and a game show based on Walmart receipts. Here we go…

🥇 Mark Rober x Crunchlabs: World’s Smallest Nerf Gun Shoots an Ant
Mark Rober finds plenty of chances to tell viewers about his STEM subscription box. The kid-focused product—aka Crunchlabs—made an appearance at the end of one of Rober’s most recent engineering videos. The result: an extraordinarily tiny Nerf gun and 16 million views.

🥈 Luke Davidson x Ugreen: Grandmas Gives Grandkid A Gift And It Saves The Day!
Family road trips have been a popular theme for viral branded videos this fall, and Luke Davidson made sure to capitalize on that trend. The 20-year-old creator plugged Ugreen’s handy phone accessory-slash-charger in a Short that starred him as both a tech-savvy grandma and a grouchy grandson.

🥉 REVOLT x Walmart: What’s In The Bag? Quincy & Emmanuel Try To Discover Sophia’s Hidden PassionWhat’s In The Bag? Quincy & Emmanuel Try To Discover Sophia’s Hidden Passion
REVOLT’s Walmart-sponsored game show is on a roll. 7.2 million viewers have now tuned into Episode 5 of Receipts, which follows creators Quincy Brown and Emmanuel Hudson as they attempt to decode strangers’ shopping receipts.

Want even more data on brand partnerships and sponsored YouTube content? Check out Gospel Stats.

WATCH THIS 📺

This sea otter celebrated her 24th birthday with a $300,000 Twitch party

If you’ve ever spent a rainy day camped out in front of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s sea otter cam, then you already know all about Rosa.

In addition to charming aquarium visitors, the 24-year-old otter has become a fan favorite on Twitch, where creator DougDoug hosts a fundraising stream every year in her honor. The first of those feeds raised around $300 for the Monterey Bay Aquarium—but Rosa’s fanbase has grown substantially since her inaugural birthday bash. The result: this year’s stream raised a grand total of $300,000.

Happy birthday, Rosa!

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.